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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. ...

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Building Better: What Shapes the Success of Chinese-Supported Power Projects?
Operations manager Fang Wenjun (L) from Chinese firm Kaishan Group and a colleague inspect the facility at the Sosian Menengai 35 MW Geothermal Power Plant in Nakuru county, Kenya, Sept. 9, 2024. (XINHUA)
After months, sometimes years, of negotiations, feasibility studies, and financial structuring, shovels hit the ground and concrete is poured. But the final outcome of a power project is not just a function of engineering inputs or Chinese execution. It also hinges on what happens ...

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.
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