Executive Summary: Armenia’s political climate is heating up ahead of the 2026 elections, with a gradually more emboldened opposition poised to exploit frustrations with attempts to normalize relations with Azerbaijan and Türkiye to oust Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan from power. A finalized peace treaty with... MORE

Executive Summary: April’s Politburo meetings and subsequent policy deployments indicate that Xi Jinping and his fellow Politburo members are scrambling to adapt to a harsher external environment—one marked by persistent U.S. tariffs, accelerating technology decoupling, and slowing global demand. Beijing’s response points toward deeper economic... MORE

Executive Summary: The Hungarian government launched a nationwide advisory referendum on Ukraine’s EU membership, while the ruling Fidesz-KDNP alliance launched the VOKS2025 campaign to rally the public against Kyiv’s potential accession to the European bloc. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, known for his pro-Russian stance,... MORE

Executive Summary: The second round of the Romanian presidential election on May 18 will be a battle for the country’s pro-Western direction. Romania’s constitutional court annulled the November 2024 election and banned ultranationalist Călin Georgescu from running in May after indications of illegal foreign interference... MORE

Executive Summary: Georgia’s entry at the Eurovision Song Contest this year, “Freedom,” is sung by Mariam Shengelia, who publicly supports the governing pro-Russian political party, Georgian Dream, and has performed at their events. The song has been criticized by Georgians and among fans internationally for... MORE

Executive Summary: Ramzan Kadyrov declared this week that he wants to retire from his position as head of the Chechen Republic but acknowledged that only Russian President Vladimir Putin could release him. Putin agreed to meet with him and appears to have turned down his... MORE

Executive Summary: The Georgian State Registry re-registered “Conservatives for Georgia,” a pro-Russian party tied to political violence and anti-Western rhetoric, signaling the ruling Georgian Dream party’s continued effort to consolidate pro-Russian forces ahead of elections. Ultranationalist groups, originally civil movements promoting anti-Western propaganda, have gained... MORE

Executive Summary: Taiwan is bolstering its deterrence posture through whole-of-society defense resilience drills, involving civilians in readiness activities in part to raise confidence in national defense and drawing on European and Japanese models in the process. The most recent drill included 1,500 participants and tested... MORE

Executive Summary: Russian President Vladimir Putin has increasingly relied on expansionist, militaristic foreign policy in his 25-year rule to centralize power and justify the dissolution of Russian federalism. Moscow has stripped regional governments of the power to economically and socially self-develop, leaving them only able... MORE

Executive Summary: The Propaganda Department’s top books from 2024 highlight those by Xi Jinping, as well as ones focused on military themes, Party history, and China’s place in the world. This official book list has virtually no overlap with similar lists on platforms like Douban... MORE