The eighth meeting of the World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples took place in Tartu, Estonia, on June 16–18. These congresses, which are held in a different city every four years, are also political summits, usually attended by presidents of the world’s three Finno-Ugric-majority countries—Finland, Estonia... MORE

The Russian government is already signaling that it plans an activist approach during its three-year term as chair of the Arctic Council (see EDM, April 22, May 13, 26). It is scheduling various meetings to discuss how that regional body can be mobilized to promote... MORE

Introduction The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Organization Department’s initiatives to build an organizational infrastructure with global reach evoke China’s revolutionary tradition, drawing lessons from history as the CCP prepares to celebrate its centennial this year. In the early 20th century, overseas party branches of both... MORE

Over the past three decades, various initiatives for regional cooperation in the South Caucasus have been proposed, including the “Peaceful Caucasus Initiative” (Eduard Shevardnadze), “Stability Pact for the Caucasus” (Suleyman Demirel, on January 16, 2000), “Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform” (Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, August 13,... MORE

Introduction On March 31, Chilean regulators unconditionally approved the $3 billion sale of Chile’s Compañía General de Electricidad (CGE) to the Chinese state-owned electric utility company State Grid (InfoBae, March 31).  The deal follows China Southern Power Grid’s 2018 purchase of a 27.7 percent interest... MORE

In a recent column published by RIA Novosti, the deputy chairperson of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, writes that Russia’s relations with the United States have reverted back to a full “Cold War” (RIA Novosti, April 23). Medvedev served as Russia’s caretaker president from... MORE

On the night of March 30, an Italian frigate commander, Walter Biot, was caught red-handed selling documents to Dimitry Ostrukhov, an employee at the Russian embassy in Rome (Repubblica, March 31). The documents, whose content has not been disclosed, are said to regard North Atlantic... MORE

Introduction Much has been written about China’s social media manipulation in Taiwan following the 2018 nine-in-one local elections, but both Taiwanese and Western analyses have skewed heavily towards the impact of this disinformation, overlooking how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) developed its interest in social... MORE

Introduction: Propaganda and Disinformation Recent events in the Czech Republic (CR) offer an interesting case study in Chinese propaganda and disinformation. For the purpose of this article, the distinction between propaganda and disinformation is understood to be the following: Propaganda creates a strategic, mostly positive... MORE

A scandal erupted in Montenegro at the end of March: the head of the Balkan country’s National Security Agency (ANB), Dejan Vukšić, was charged with revealing secret information during a March 19 closed-door session of the parliament’s (Skupština) Security and Defense Committee. Committee member Raško... MORE