Author: LSE IDEAS
LSE IDEAS is a foreign policy think tank at the London School of Economics and Political Science. IDEAS was founded as a think tank for Diplomacy and Strategy in February 2008, succeeding the Cold War Studies Centre founded in 2004. The Chair is Professor Michael Cox and its Directors are Professor Christopher Coker and Professor Christopher Alden. The 2018 and 2017 Global Go To Think Tank Index run by the University of Pennsylvania's Think Tank and Civil Societies Program ranked LSE IDEAS as the number one European university-affiliated think tank, and the number two university-affiliated think tank in the world.
IDEAS runs seven research projects, hosts public and private events (43 in 2017-2018), and publishes analyses of international affairs. From 2017 to 2018, it released 75 publications and held 43 fellowships and scholarships. In addition, IDEAS houses the LSE Executive MSc International Strategy and Diplomacy, a program designed to enhance the strategic vision of mid-career professionals.
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China’s Global Power Looks Different When Its Partners Are in Crisis
By Felix Brender 王哲謙 On January 3, 2026, U.S. forces executed a dramatic operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, abruptly removing the central figure of a regime that had been one of Beijing’s most emblematic strategic partners in Latin ...
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In 2026 China–India Ties Will Primarily Be Shaped at Home, Not by the U.S.
By Saniya Kulkarni and Lukas Fiala The tentative normalisation of Sino-Indian relations over the last year has sometimes been attributed to President Trump’s heavy-handed approach to trade policy, especially his "liberation day" tariff announcements. Going into 2026, however, it remains the ...
Why Greenland is the New Front in the U.S.–China Resource Rivalry
By Lukas Fiala After a showcase of U.S. military might in Venezuela, the longstanding back-and-forth about a potential U.S. intervention in Greenland continues apace. With President Trump announcing earlier this week that the U.S. would acquire Greenland “one way or ...
What the U.S. Strategy Debate Gets Wrong About China
By Lukas Fiala Over the last week, all of us have pored over the latest U.S. National Security Strategy. As many have pointed out, one of the most striking developments is the shift towards recognising the Western Hemisphere as a primary ...
At African Studies Gathering, Critiques of China Grow Louder… And More African
By Felix Brender 王哲謙 Some of North America’s (and perhaps the world’s) leading Africanists gathered last week in Atlanta for the African Studies Association’s Annual Meeting. As ever, China loomed large on the agenda. What was new, however, was not ...
An Exhibition of ‘Civilizations’ in Beijing, and the Narrative China Is Quietly Writing
By Felix Brender 王哲謙 The Where Civilizations Meet exhibition at Beijing’s National Museum of China drew to a close this month. Showcasing artifacts from member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, it was, at least on the surface, a celebration ...
It’s Time to Reflect on China’s Global Economic Role (Again)
By Lukas FIala Whenever the AidData team at William & Mary publishes one of their landmark reports, it’s time for us to sit down, read and think. And with the publication of their latest findings this week, they’ve given us a ...
A Post-American Shift Complicates Growth Strategies for the Global South
by Lukas Fiala and Chris Alden From the BRICS to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), members of recently expanding international fora are quick to point to a multipolar order as a hopeful imaginary of post-Western internationalism.
UN Celebrates Chinese Peacekeepers in South Sudan Even as Questions Linger Over What Was Achieved
By Felix Brender 王哲謙 When seven hundred members of China’s 11th Peacekeeping Infantry Battalion were awarded the United Nations Peace Medal of Honour in Juba on 23 October 2025, Chinese media celebrated. State broadcaster Xinhua framed the event as proof of ...
U.S.-China Summit Demonstrates Who Matters in International Politics and Why That’s a Problem
By Lukas Fiala Who needs Michael Myers this Halloween when a look at this year’s major headlines should send shivers down the spine of even a seasoned observer of international relations? Amidst all the mayhem, the apparent deal between the U.S. ...
Afghanistan, Pakistan and (the Limitations of) China’s Neighborhood Engagement
By Lukas Fiala and Saniya Kulkarni The recent escalation between Afghanistan and Pakistan has demonstrated once more the potential for instability in China’s neighborhood. With both sides reaching an initial truce on Wednesday after a series of strikes, Beijing is ...
China’s Global Initiatives: More Questions, Fewer Answers
By Lukas Fiala With the Xiangshan Forum, Beijing’s premier security summit, having taken place in September, I’ve been wondering about the state of the Global Security Initiative (GSI). It is common knowledge that it’s rather difficult to understand the implementation of ...
Trump’s Attack on Multilateralism Leaves Xi Poised to Fill the Void
By Lukas Fiala U.S. President Donald Trump’s page turner of a speech at the UN General Assembly this week was many things, but certainly no homage to the United Nations. Exhibiting the president’s well-known skepticism of multilateralism and rejection of globalism, ...
Future-Gazing China’s Global Governance Initiative
By Lukas Fiala At China’s SCO summit earlier this month, Xi launched yet another one of his signature foreign policy-oriented projects: the Global Governance Initiative (GGI). Adding an umbrella framing to the existing alphabet soup of GSI, GDI, GCI and ...
Tianjin Summit in Review: The Winner Takes It All (But Not Much)
By Felix Brender 王哲謙 “We should continue to unequivocally oppose hegemonism and power politics, practice true multilateralism,” Xi declared in Tianjin last week. Yet for many of the leaders in the room, multilateralism appears to chiefly mean “more of me” ...
The New Normal in China-India Relations and Multipolarity in Asia
By Saniya Kulkarni Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi concluded a two-day visit to New Delhi after talks with Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This visit is another step towards the normalization of relations between the two ...
Disorder as Strategy at the Gate of Tears
By Felix Brender 王哲謙 In the latest vignette of maritime theater off Yemen’s coast, a Chinese frigate decided to dazzle a German surveillance plane with a military-grade laser, forcing it to turn tail and return to Djibouti. Berlin is ...
The Art of (Watching) War: China’s Fading MENA Moment
By Felix Brender 王哲謙 Amid escalating conflicts across the Middle East since 2023, Beijing has been increasingly silent. Long eager to position itself as benevolent and neutral, China has offered little more than carefully worded statements while the region spirals. It ...
China’s National Security Whitepaper: Old Wine in New and Important Bottles
By Lukas Fiala As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, China’s recently published national security whitepaper rightly deserves our attention at a crucial moment in global politics. Instructive both in terms of timing and implications, the paper cements Beijing’s ...
China, Pakistan, and the Recurring Question of Alliances
By Lukas Fiala One of the topics I set out to cover more closely this year was China’s evolving role in international security, especially considering Beijing’s Global Security Initiative. Two events over the last week have given me yet another excuse ...
The India-Pakistan Crisis and Conflict in a Multipolar World
By Saniya Kulkarni Tensions have escalated rapidly between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of a terrorist attack in Kashmir last week, resulting in the killing of 25 Indian tourists and one local. Indian security forces have attributed the attack to ...
To Be or Not to Be a Bully? China’s Response to Trump’s Trade War
By Lukas Fiala From the U.S. CHIPS Act to the de-risking of supply chains, during the last five years, Beijing has been confronted with the question of how strongly it should push back against U.S. attempts to isolate China globally.
China’s Strategic Pursuit of Nuclear Energy Dominance in Africa
By Innocent Batsani-Ncube China is strategically positioning itself to exert significant influence over Africa’s nuclear energy sector in the coming decades. Presently, Russia and France dominate this emerging industry, with the United States playing a lesser role; however, China’s calculated initiatives ...
The New “Washington Dissensus” & the Uncertain Future of Global Economic Leadership
By Lukas Fiala With markets reeling from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff bazooka, economists around the world are seemingly waking up to the new reality of the "Washington Dissensus." America rejects the very idea of the world it has created, its ...
Bridges, Yes, Bandages, No: China Won’t Fill America’s Aid Shoes
By Felix Brender 王哲謙 If former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson thought a week was a long time in politics, a single day in Trump’s America now feels like a political eon. This column was originally meant to dissect the implications of ...
How the Global South Became Central to China’s Narrative Strategy on Russia’s War in Ukraine
By Lukas Fiala Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a little over three years ago, marked a critical juncture in the development of European and international security. Far from merely a regional issue, the war has since affected many beyond the old continent: ...
How the Global South Became Central to China’s Narrative Strategy on Russia’s War in Ukraine
By Lukas Fiala Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a little over three years ago marked a critical juncture in the development of European and international security. Far from merely a regional issue, the war has since then affected many beyond the old ...
Is Europe Facing a “Lost Decade” Across the Global South?
By Lukas Fiala With Europe scrambling to adjust to a world in rapid transition, two key events will shape the continent’s ability to sustain competition with China across the Global South. The first was exemplified by Germany’s election last Sunday, which ...
Beware False Idols: The Pitfalls of Copy-Paste Development Models
By Felix Brender 王哲謙 At this year’s Munich Security Conference, the U.S. put on such an antagonistic performance that China barely had to lift a finger to win brownie points. All Beijing had to do was sit back, radiate calm, and ...
Can Washington Really Force Countries to Choose Sides?
By Lukas Fiala With Panama’s proclaimed exit from the BRI and the likelihood of hardline ambassadorial appointments to BRICS countries such as South Africa, we’ve been thinking about Washington’s ability to make countries choose sides between China and the U.S..
Great Power Politics in Trump 2.0: Shifts in the U.S.-India-China Relationships
By Saniya Kulkarni In Trump’s first week as President of the U.S., his administration has already moved ahead on key campaign talking points, including an escalated crackdown on illegal immigration, threats of tariff imposition on allies, and the ...
China’s Exports Boom Goes Well Beyond Electric Vehicles
By Lukas Fiala With most of my attention span occupied by events in the U.S. this week, I sought a brief refuge from Beltway politics by turning to one of the subjects I promised to keep an eye on this year: ...
A Bumpy Year Ahead? Three Things To Watch in 2025
By Lukas Fiala A little over a month ago, we argued the upcoming Trump presidency may well present an opportunity for Beijing to push ahead with its quest to transform global order to benefit Chinese interests. With Trump 2.0 fast approaching ...
Locating Türkiye in Global Critical Minerals Competition Between East and West
By Buğra Süsler Critical minerals are becoming increasingly important due to their use in various strategic sectors, such as renewable energy, aerospace, and defense, with a growing global demand accelerated by the decarbonization of economies. China’s dominance in the production and ...
“Self-Othering” and “Neighboring”: Understanding China’s Global South Strategy
By Giulia Sciorati The Third Belt and Road Forum, held in Beijing on October 18th, marked a significant moment to evaluate China’s strategies for engaging the Global South. While public discourse has focused on financial commitments and infrastructure projects, the narratives ...
Is this China’s Great Power Opportunity to Change Global Order?
By Chris Alden & Lukas Fiala Reading through the headlines surrounding the recent G20 summit in Brazil last week, it was hard to overlook reports of outgoing US President Biden seemingly sidelined at the photo-op. While it’s important not to overinterpret the ...
From Lemonade to Stealth Fighters: Zhuhai Airshow and China’s Future as an Arms Exporter
By Lukas Fiala While perhaps not on the radar of some China watchers, this week’s China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition – or Zhuhai Airshow for short – marks an important inflection point in China’s rise as a great power. Taking ...
Trump 2.0 and U.S.-China Competition Across the Global South
By Chris Alden, Felix Brender, and Lukas Fiala While U.S. elections have commonly captured the world’s attention, it is safe to say this week’s result has perhaps been one of the most anxiously anticipated outcomes both within the U.S. and in ...
A Sweet Surprise? The Reasons Behind China & India’s Thawing Relationship
By Saniya Kulkarni One of the more prominent stories coming out of the BRICS summit last week is the formal bilateral meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the first one of its kind since 2019. ...
The BRICS in Kazan: A Testing Ground for Chinese Multipolarism?
By Giulia Sciorati This week’s BRICS summit in Kazan has represented a key opportunity for Beijing to strengthen its leadership within the group and solidify its status as both a regional and global power. For China, BRICS serves primarily as a ...
Back to the Future: Milei’s U-turn on China
By Bruno Binetti Argentine President Javier Milei has had a change of heart regarding China. Although he was highly critical of Beijing during the electoral campaign — famously declaring he would refuse all ties with "Communists" and backing out of joining ...
With Global Attention Elsewhere, Asia-Pacific Remains a Theater for China-India Rivalry
By Saniya Kulkarni In what has turned out to be the closest election in the history of Sri Lankan politics, left-leaning Anura Kumara Dissanayake has unseated Ranil Wickremesinghe to become the island country’s eighth president, also
Are China’s Diplomatic Partnerships Entering a New Era?
By Lukas Fiala Studying Chinese foreign policy means grappling with China’s sometimes ambiguous but nevertheless intriguing foreign policy rhetoric. China’s multi-tiered partnership framework is a case in point. Last year, I wrote about this very subject, arguing that China’s ...
How the BRI Undermined Beijing’s Bid to Revive Globalization
By Lukas Fiala Last week’s Belt and Road Summit in Hong Kong served as a reminder of the conflicted ongoing legacy of the BRI over a decade after its initiation. When first articulated as a strategic vision to connect China with ...
FOCAC and the Recalibration of Africa-China Relations
By Chris Alden and Lukas Fiala As the news cycle surrounding last week’s Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is gradually slowing down, it’s time to think about the bigger picture and what this summit has achieved. While not evident at first ...
A (South China) Sea of Problems: Twists and Turns in Sino-Filipino Relations
Felix Brender 王哲謙 Last week, tensions in the South China Sea escalated once again, with a collision between Chinese and Filipino vessels, as Manila accused the Chinese coast guard of intentionally ramming the Filipino boat. This incident is, of course, ...
FOCAC and China’s Future Role in Africa’s Security Landscape
By Lukas Fiala With the next Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) only a few short weeks away, we’ve all been busy reading the tea leaves of what the summit might mean for the increasingly complex and multifaceted Africa-China relationship. One area ...
Tit-for-Tat Diplomacy: Will Brazil Join China’s Belt and Road Initiative?
By Alvaro Mendez and Chris Alden Thursday marked the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Brasília and Beijing, which began on 15 August 1974, when Brazil became the tenth country in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) to ...
Why is Türkiye Enhancing Cooperation with China?
By Buğra Süsler One of the highlights of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s visits to China (3-5 June) and the BRICS meeting in Russia (10-11 June) was Türkiye’s renewed interest in joining the BRICS bloc, which signaled once again Ankara’s ...
How Would a Trump Presidency Compete with China in the Global South?
By Lukas Fiala With Kamala Harris’ campaign gathering pace over the past week, the race for the U.S. presidency is now more open than just a couple of weeks ago. And yet, with the specter of Trump 2.0 looming over policy ...
With a Little Help From My Friends: What Russia and North Korea’s Defense Treaty Tells Us About Global China
By Felix Brender 王哲謙 We all know matchmaking between two wildcards in your circle can be a bit of a gamble. It’s like introducing two sparks and hoping they ignite a friendly bonfire without starting a blaze that burns down the ...
SCOring Higher? China, Russia, and the Future of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
By Giulia Sciorati The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's (SCO) annual Head of State meeting was hosted in Astana on July 3rd and 4th as part of the SCO’s Kazakh presidency. Despite its over twenty years of activity, the SCO has seldom attracted ...
All-Weather Friends? South Africa, BRICS, and the Year of Elections
By Chris Alden What happens when a card-carrying BRICS member has an election and changes government? Do changes in domestic politics produce changes in policy towards BRICS? South Africa’s recent election in which the leading internationalist party – the governing African ...
Who Will Succeed Amidst Global Economic Fragmentation?
By Lukas Fiala It’s hard to go a day without reading about new economic security measures on either side of the Atlantic. From EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to the U.S. Treasury’s sanctions on China’s dual-use trade with Russia, the ...
Does Europe Want to Compete With China in the Global South?
By Lukas Fiala When Ursula von der Leyen took on the top job in Brussels back in 2019, she vowed to transform the European Union’s quasi-government—the European Commission—into a “geopolitical Commission.” Little did EU bureaucrats ...
India-China Relations in Modi’s Third Term
By Saniya Kulkarni & Lukas Fiala The world’s largest democracy has gone to the polls. And while Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost their outright majority, the incumbent Prime Minister resigned on Wednesday to pave the way for a ...
China’s Naval Diplomacy Comeback
By Lukas Fiala Earlier this week, Vice Admiral Monde Lobese, Chief of the South African Navy, met with China’s Defense Minister, Admiral Dong Jun 董军 in Beijing. For PLA analysts, the visit may come as no surprise, given the PLA’s ...
A Tale of Two Ports: A Potential Shift in Indian Ocean Maritime Politics?
By Saniya Kulkarni India recently signed an agreement with Iran to jointly develop and operate Chabahar Port, located on the southeastern Iranian coast on the Gulf of Oman. The new arrangement, which entails India committing to investing $370 million into the infrastructure of ...
Matching Deeds With Words? The Coming of Age of the “China Model”
China’s economic statecraft across the developing world continues to receive global media attention. From the infamous and largely debunked “debt trap” to China’s future as a development financier, the country’s lending practices have primarily been connected to its record-breaking economic growth in the past.
Words Come Easy, Action Does Not: China in the Context of Sudan
By Felix Brender Earlier this month, media and commentators briefly shifted their hyperfocus from conflicts that fit into an easy-to-grasp Disney-style good/bad binary to “one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent memory:” the consequences of the most recent round of sectarian ...
China’s Engagement in the Global South: Three Lessons From Fiji’s China Policing Deal Volte-Face
By Innocent Batsani-Ncube When Sitiveni Rabuka was elected Fiji's Prime Minister after a very close parliamentary vote in December 2022, expectations were high — especially in Australia and other Western capitals — that his government would make good on his election campaign commitment to ...
How Much of China’s Foreign Policy is About the U.S.?
By Lukas Fiala Over the past week, two conversations with some of our American counterparts reminded me of a perennial question in the China space: How much of China’s foreign policy — broadly conceived — is about the U.S.? At first ...
Sky High Ambitions? Military Aviation and Africa-China Relations
By Lukas Fiala Angolan President João Lourenço’s desire to have China build an air force base in Angola again highlights the issue of military cooperation between Africa and China. What are the drivers of China’s foray into African military aviation?
The Sky is the Limit: Aviation and Africa-China Relations
By Lukas Fiala When Angolan President João Lourenço returned from China over the last week, he made a few noteworthy announcements. However, Lourenço’s apparent desire to have China finance an air force base in Angola stood out.
Letting Some Get Wealthy First
By Felix Brender 王哲謙 This week, the Communist Party set a rather ambitious GDP growth target of 5%, doubling down on China’s growth narrative and development success story without qualifications. At the same time, CNN and Al Jazeera are reporting on PRC citizens ...
Beijing’s New Ambassador to Angola Arrives at a Critical Juncture in Africa-China Relations
By Lukas Fiala The arrival of China’s new ambassador, Zhang Bin, to Angola last week was barely noticed outside the niche community watching Chinese diplomacy. While this posting is reportedly Zhang’s first ambassadorial appointment, it is not his first in Angola. ...
Non-Interference No More? China’s Evolving Approach to Global Security
By Giulia Sciorati China has begun renegotiating its once unwavering non-interference policy as the country has ascended to global power status. For years, China has attempted to reconcile its image of “responsible great power” with its narrative of “peaceful rise”, ...
Drawing in the Relational Net of Influence & Power
By Felix Brender 王哲謙 With analysts ruminating over the rise of China for the past decades, we have seen a more recent trend among the Western academy that attempts to see what China wants and does through a Chinese lens and perhaps ...
How Ties With a Small Pacific Island Country Highlights China’s Reputational Statecraft
By Lukas Fiala & Kenddrick Chan Among the many noteworthy consequences of Taiwan’s recent elections, Nauru’s recognition of the One China Principle is perhaps the most underappreciated one. Having announced the diplomatic switch from Taipei to Beijing shortly after election ...
Small Islands in Great Power Politics
By Saniya Kulkarni In the past two weeks alone, two island states have made shifts in their foreign policies to align more closely with China. The states in question are, of course, Nauru and the Maldives – the former used to ...
Island Fever? Taiwan’s General Elections as an Opportunity for the Global South to Revisit Its Relations With China
By Felix Brender 王哲謙 The mood in Taiwan’s capital Taipei is as somber as it tends to be mere days before the elections. As usual in the runup to the elections, the PRC has increased its posturing, as part of the wider ...
Latin America’s Diplomacy: Balancing EU and China With Mercosur
By Alvaro Mendez and Chris Alden The negotiations for the EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement (FTA) have spanned over two decades and are now facing renewed delays. This prolonged process is a crucial moment in Latin America's trade policy, especially as Brazilian ...
China’s Crisis Diplomacy Is in Overdrive – but to What Effect?
By Lukas Fiala 方朗克 When China’s Horn of Africa Envoy, Xue Bing, returned to Ethiopia earlier this week, he did so in the context of China’s increasingly proactive diplomacy across Africa and the Middle East. From the conflict in Gaza to the peace ...
What Can We Learn From China’s Response to the Gaza Crisis?
By Lukas Fiala 方朗克 With a first truce between Israel and Hamas and the initial release of hostages in the headlines, we should begin to draw wider lessons from China’s response to the crisis to enhance our understanding of Beijing’s approach to ...
Of Choke Points, Copper Mines and China
By Chris Alden and Alvaro Mendez The Panama Canal has run nearly dry. Or to be more exact, the artificial lake that serves as a staging site for ships coming into the canal from the Pacific Ocean is so depleted after ...
China’s New Defense Minister Comes at a Critical Time
By Lukas Fiala and Felix Brender 王哲謙 Earlier this week, the sacking of Li Shangfu — China’s now erstwhile Minister of National Defense and State Councilor — made the headlines around the world. Li had been MIA for weeks, and was the second ...
Can’t Be Ambiguous and Mediate: The Limits of China’s Involvement in Israel-Palestine
By Felix Brender 王哲謙 and Lukas Fiala Invigorated by having kicked the Saudi-Iranian deal over the finish line earlier this year, China had initially tried to appear neutral and present itself as a potential mediator in the most recent escalation in violence between Israelis ...
How Are We to Understand China’s Ambitions to Reform Global Governance?
By Lukas Fiala 方朗克 After expanding the guest list of BRICS in August, Beijing has been busy articulating its vision for reforming global order. The publication of a position paper on global governance reform launched by the Ministry of Foreign ...
Running Into BRICS Walls: Enlargement Won’t Help BRICS Establish a New World Order
By Felix Brender 王哲謙 The BRICS bloc’s announcement to open its doors to new members has triggered considerable coverage and commentary suggesting the BRICS are setting themselves up to establish a new global order as an alternative to Western dominance, economic woes across ...
Renewed Momentum in Turkey-China Relations
By Buğra Süsler At the start of 2023, the Turkish government expressed an exceptionally open public criticism of China concerning the rights of the Uyghur Muslim community in China’s Xinjiang region. Notably, in his end-of-year press conference ...
Odd One Out: Argentina in BRICS?
By Bruno Binetti The decision of the BRICS to invite Argentina to become a full member in 2024 came as a surprise even to the Argentine government. President Alberto Fernández had lobbied to enter the club, but the expectations were so low ...
Europe Needs a Reality Check to Remain Relevant in a Multipolar World
By Lukas Fiala The recent military coup in Niger was widely interpreted as the latest blow in a series of setbacks for Europe in Africa. After French disengagement yielded space to Russian mercenaries across the Sahel, it’s hard not to see the ...
Is Myanmar a Good Testing Ground for How Far India Will Go to Counter China’s Influence?
By Saniya Kulkarni There have been developments in the China-Myanmar relationship since the first visit of former Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Bagan following the coup in 2021. When we last wrote of this visit, Chinese support of the military ...
Guessing China’s Military Basing Ambitions
By Lukas Fiala Occasionally, a new report reignites the debate over where China might place its next military base. And just in time for the PLA’s 96th anniversary on Tuesday this week a recent study from AidData sheds new light on the topic. ...
China Is Going Big in Algeria and We Should Pay Attention
By Lukas Fiala With most commentators and analysts playing a rhetorical game of hide and seek with Qin Gang, China’s now-former foreign minister, it’s easy to miss what really mattered over the past week and a half. One event we should ...
China, India, and the Awkwardness of the SCO
By Saniya Kulkarni There has been much scrutiny of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit two weeks ago – especially around the fact that it was entirely virtual. Compelling arguments have been put forth on both sides, the advantages and disadvantages ...
Re-Election of China’s Man at the Food & Agriculture Organization Could Reverberate in the Global South
By Felix Brender Earlier this month, China’s Qu Dongyu was re-elected as head of the UN’s Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO). Media coverage was rather muted inside and outside China, where official media foregrounded Qu’s being the first Chinese in such a role and ...
A New Chapter of ‘Going out’ in the Making?
By Lukas Fiala Walking through the halls at the Paris Air Show, the world’s largest aerospace exhibition, last week demonstrated once more the emergence of a novel chapter of China’s global outreach: high-tech aeronautics and aerospace cooperation. From the Aviation Industry ...
The China-Pakistan-Iran Trilateral
By Saniya Kulkarni China, Pakistan, and Iran met in Beijing last Wednesday for a first-of-its-kind trilateral consultation on security and counterterrorism efforts in the region. China and Pakistan have previously shared concerns about organizations operating across Pakistan’s northern provinces and Afghanistan such ...
What Happened in New York is a Reminder Climate Change Isn’t Just a Global South Problem
By Lukas Fiala Looking out the window of my hotel room in New York City this week, I couldn’t help but feel a certain apocalyptic reckoning. Due to raging wildfires in Canada, the city that’s home to the world’s most ...
Taiwan’s ‘Look South’ Policy Aims to Reduce Dependency on China
By Felix Brender Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s administration launched the New Southbound Policy (NSP, 新南向政策) in late 2016, ostensibly to reduce dependence on China. The NSP is impressive in its scope (trade collaboration, talent exchange, resource sharing, and regional connectivity) and ...
How China Is Moving up the Ranks in the Global Arms Market
By Lukas Fiala The label ‘Made in China’ has long epitomized China’s prominence in global manufacturing. From primary materials to advanced consumer goods, China’s rapid economic rise has been undergirded by the country’s insertion into global value chains since the 1980s ...
Ecuador’s New Free Trade Pact With China Provokes Lots of Excitement and Even More Questions
By Chris Alden and Alvaro Mendez The ongoing political crisis in Ecuador, which saw President Guillermo Lasso dissolve the National Assembly and trigger an election, came against the backdrop of the signing of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China. This ...
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization: What’s of Note So Far?
By Saniya Kulkarni The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Foreign Ministers Meet is currently underway in Goa, India, a week after the Defence Ministers Meet concluded in New Delhi. It is a busy summitry season for India, which is presiding over the ...
China’s Groundhog Day in Sudan
After decades of diplomatic, economic, and security engagement in Africa, the ongoing fighting in Sudan may well remind Beijing of the 1990s classic in which TV weatherman Bill Murray covers the annual Groundhog Day in a small town in Pennsylvania, only to be forced to relive the ...
How Are We to Understand China’s International Partnerships?
By Lukas Fiala The visit of China’s newly minted defense minister, Li Shangfu, to Russia over the past week resulted in the usual diplomatic overtures. As Li reportedly put it: ‘We have very strong ties. They surpass the military-political alliances of ...
Does China Sit Atop the Drone Throne?
By Lukas Fiala On Wednesday, it was reported that China donated four Type PMR-50 UAVs to Benin. Produced by China’s state-owned defense major NORINCO, the PMR-50 is a small, close-range drone and will reportedly support Benin’s counterterrorism efforts, likely by enhancing ...
Insecurity in Pakistan: Losses and Gains for China
By Saniya Kulkarni Security in the Central-South Asian region is an issue of increasing importance to China, especially in light of growing uncertainty in Pakistan and an ongoing threat to infrastructure projects in Afghanistan. The Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIS-K, or ...
How Significant Is China’s Role in the Saudi-Iran Rapprochement?
By Chris Alden, Felix Brender and Lukas Fiala Saudi Arabia’s and Iran’s decision to restore diplomatic relations has taken many observers by surprise. Even more so, the fact that Beijing was presented as the mediator bringing to an end the seven-year hiatus ...
Does the Private Sector Matter to Xi’s Foreign Economic Policy?
Elisa Gambino, Global Development Institute On Monday, Xi Jinping visited national political advisors from the China National Democratic Construction Association and the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce who are attending the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference ...
Iranian women hold portraits of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the funerals of security forces personnel killed in recent protests in Tehran on January 14, 2026. Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP
By Andrea Ghiselli More than a hundred children at a girls’ primary school in Minab, in southern Iran, are reported dead. Missiles and drones are striking targets across Israel as well as the Gulf, from Kuwait to Oman, with the barrage not limited to military ...
China’s Global Power Looks Different When Its Partners Are in Crisis
By Felix Brender 王哲謙 On January 3, 2026, U.S. forces executed a dramatic operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, abruptly removing the central figure of a regime that had been one of Beijing’s most emblematic strategic partners in Latin ...
In 2026 China–India Ties Will Primarily Be Shaped at Home, Not by the U.S.
By Saniya Kulkarni and Lukas Fiala The tentative normalisation of Sino-Indian relations over the last year has sometimes been attributed to President Trump’s heavy-handed approach to trade policy, especially his "liberation day" tariff announcements. Going into 2026, however, it remains the ...
Why Greenland is the New Front in the U.S.–China Resource Rivalry
By Lukas Fiala After a showcase of U.S. military might in Venezuela, the longstanding back-and-forth about a potential U.S. intervention in Greenland continues apace. With President Trump announcing earlier this week that the U.S. would acquire Greenland “one way or ...
What the U.S. Strategy Debate Gets Wrong About China
By Lukas Fiala Over the last week, all of us have pored over the latest U.S. National Security Strategy. As many have pointed out, one of the most striking developments is the shift towards recognising the Western Hemisphere as a primary ...
At African Studies Gathering, Critiques of China Grow Louder… And More African
By Felix Brender 王哲謙 Some of North America’s (and perhaps the world’s) leading Africanists gathered last week in Atlanta for the African Studies Association’s Annual Meeting. As ever, China loomed large on the agenda. What was new, however, was not ...
An Exhibition of ‘Civilizations’ in Beijing, and the Narrative China Is Quietly Writing
By Felix Brender 王哲謙 The Where Civilizations Meet exhibition at Beijing’s National Museum of China drew to a close this month. Showcasing artifacts from member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, it was, at least on the surface, a celebration ...
It’s Time to Reflect on China’s Global Economic Role (Again)
By Lukas FIala Whenever the AidData team at William & Mary publishes one of their landmark reports, it’s time for us to sit down, read and think. And with the publication of their latest findings this week, they’ve given us a ...
A Post-American Shift Complicates Growth Strategies for the Global South
by Lukas Fiala and Chris Alden From the BRICS to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), members of recently expanding international fora are quick to point to a multipolar order as a hopeful imaginary of post-Western internationalism.
UN Celebrates Chinese Peacekeepers in South Sudan Even as Questions Linger Over What Was Achieved
By Felix Brender 王哲謙 When seven hundred members of China’s 11th Peacekeeping Infantry Battalion were awarded the United Nations Peace Medal of Honour in Juba on 23 October 2025, Chinese media celebrated. State broadcaster Xinhua framed the event as proof of ...
U.S.-China Summit Demonstrates Who Matters in International Politics and Why That’s a Problem
By Lukas Fiala Who needs Michael Myers this Halloween when a look at this year’s major headlines should send shivers down the spine of even a seasoned observer of international relations? Amidst all the mayhem, the apparent deal between the U.S. ...
Afghanistan, Pakistan and (the Limitations of) China’s Neighborhood Engagement
By Lukas Fiala and Saniya Kulkarni The recent escalation between Afghanistan and Pakistan has demonstrated once more the potential for instability in China’s neighborhood. With both sides reaching an initial truce on Wednesday after a series of strikes, Beijing is ...
China’s Global Initiatives: More Questions, Fewer Answers
By Lukas Fiala With the Xiangshan Forum, Beijing’s premier security summit, having taken place in September, I’ve been wondering about the state of the Global Security Initiative (GSI). It is common knowledge that it’s rather difficult to understand the implementation of ...