DIPLOMACY, ALLIANCES & TREATIES
DIPLOMACY, ALLIANCES & TREATIES
STRATEGIC TRAJECTORIES | The Central Asian Bloc Galvanizes Rapidly at a Critical Time
Pakistan is the best option for Central Asia to get workable Indian Ocean ports, at Karachi and Gwadar. But this may be enough to trigger India into moving forward with its planned war against Pakistan-held Azad Kashmir.
SECURITY, UNREST & WAR
CURRENT ESTIMATE | Can Erdogan’s “Conflict in All Directions” Strategy Work?
Turkey seems to be at war on all fronts, particularly with its nominal allies. How can that work?
PERSONNEL
Key Transitions and Defense and Intelligence Appointments - 09/2020
DIPLOMACY, ALLIANCES & TREATIES
Global Alignments: CANZUK Emerges from the Fog
Less than an empire, more than a commonwealth: a cohesive arrangement of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand offers new global geopolitical possibilities as perhaps the ultimate maritime power base.
SECURITY, UNREST & WAR
Amorphous Warfare: Genocide is Alive and Well in Africa
The Oromo war against Ethiopian nationalists and ethnic Amhara peoples is driven by small extremist groups, supported by foreign governments. But it is virulent and gaining traction. Moreover, its impact is strategic.
GOVERNANCE & ELECTIONS
China: The Song Has Ended, But the Malady Lingers On
Xi Jinping’s powers were re-affirmed, apparently, at the recent Beidaihe retreat, but the challenges to him and the Communist Party have not receded.
STRATEGY & INTELLIGENCE
CURRENT ESTIMATE | Beijing Responds to India and Cements a Bond With Iran
India not only humiliated the People’s Liberation Army in Ladakh, Kashmir, in June 2020, it made it clear to Beijing that it intended to confront the People’s Republic of China’s landbridge via Kashmir to the Indian Ocean, and to outflank it in Central Asia. Beijing responded with substance in Iran.
PERSONNEL
Key Transitions and Defense and Intelligence Appointments - 08/2020
DIPLOMACY, ALLIANCES & TREATIES
EN CLAIR | Australia-US and Indonesia
SECURITY, UNREST & WAR
Why Russia is Still the West’s “Pacing Threat”
Russia gives the West a military standard with which to compete. But it’s more than that.
SECURITY, UNREST & WAR
The Long, Troubled, and Unfinished Saga of Sino-Russian Relations
Beijing is under massive pressure from a failing economy, a society disrupted by coronavirus, and massive natural disasters. Why would it pick a fight at this particular time with Russia over long-standing mutual territorial claims?