Publications

Russia’s National AI Center Is Taking Shape

September 27, 2019 Samuel Bendett DefenseOne

A famed Russian technical university is helping to lead the government’s push for public-private efforts to develop AI technologies and applications — including a joint project with China’s Huawei — and to stop top talent from flowing to the West.

China Reform Monitor No. 1386

September 20, 2019 Joshua Eisenman

Massive drug bust uncovers enough Chinese fentanyl to kill 14 million;
China claims it will crack down on Fentanyl;
China faces world's largest Hep C epidemic: WHO;
China to drop all duties at Shanghai Free Trade Zone;
New pilot FTZs christened in Yunnan and Guangxi

China Reform Monitor No. 1385

September 18, 2019 Joshua Eisenman

Xi officially named "The People's Leader";
Shenzhen to be turned into a "socialist demonstration area";
Beijing to Hong Kong: You are not "irreplaceable";
Taiwan pledges help for Hong Kong activists seeking sanctuary;
Taiwan is fighting China's travel ban

Russia Reform Monitor No. 2336

September 17, 2019 Margot van Loon

Apathy in the face of Moscow's protests;
Tit-for-tat in post-INF world;
A bleak future for Russian orphans;
No Russian visas for Kremlin critics;
Yet another extraterritorial killing?;
New theory in Russian radiation release controversy

First glimpses of Tokayev’s Kazakhstan: The listening state?

September 17, 2019 S. Frederick Starr Atlantic Council

- President Tokayev seeks to "maintain continuity" yet nonetheless calls for "systemic reforms." He appears to mean both.
- In the effort to engage society more deeply in governance, Kazakhstan will institute and seek to manage reforms from above.
- In continuing the principle of balance in its foreign policy, which Tokayev invented two decades ago, Kazakhstan will seek increased engagement and investment from the West.

China Reform Monitor No. 1384

September 17, 2019 Joshua Eisenman

Cameroon ends road project, alleging Chinese incompetence;
Russia threatens wood export ban to China;
PLA expands ties with North Korean military...;
...and Pakistan's armed forces;
Shandong U apologies for controversial "buddy program"

Russia Reform Monitor No. 2335

September 12, 2019 Margot van Loon

Russia's widening stake in Syria;
Forest fires strain federal budget;
No exposure warnin, Nyonoksa victim doctors claim;
Floating nuclear power station sets sail;
Whelan detention extended;
Officials belatedly come clean in missile test disaster

Future Iran nuclear deal needs stronger verification

September 11, 2019 Lawrence J. Haas The Hill

This week’s revelations that the International Atomic Energy Agency found traces of uranium at an undeclared nuclear site in Iran’s Tehran Province — revelations which the regime has refused to explain — shows that the Iranian nuclear issue is far more complicated than U.S. and Iranian jockeying of recent days suggests.

China Reform Monitor No. 1383

September 10, 2019 Joshua Eisenman

Philippines may ask for U.S. help to monitor Chinese ships;
Indonesian minister defense decision to send officials to China...;
...as Jakarta seeks help from China to reform national healthcare;
Confucius Institute teachers must "love the motherland;
Australian Department of Education expels institutes

China Reform Monitor No. 1382

August 27, 2019 Joshua Eisenman

China's GDP growth at slowest pace in 27 years;
China issues Xinjiang white paper;
Security at China border targets Hong Kongers;
Beijing orders its shops to remove Islamic symbols, Arabic signs;
China expands "reeducation camps" for Uighurs

China Reform Monitor No. 1381

August 20, 2019 Joshua Eisenman

Pakistan's economic problems...and China;
Online platforms fined for publishing "illegal" news;
China's Xi leans on local congresses;
Zimbabwe dangles land to lure Chinese investors, tourists;
Malaysia recovers millions for cancelled pipeline

China Reform Monitor No. 1380

August 15, 2019 Joshua Eisenman

Revolutionizing China's banking sector;
Chinese firms receive licenses to mine gold in Tanzania;
After cost cut, Malaysia restarts rail project with China;
Four Chinese blockbusters pulled without explanation;
The NBA reigns supreme in China

China Reform Monitor No. 1379

August 14, 2019 Joshua Eisenman

A growing global outcry over China's treatment of Uighurs...;
...as Beijing's defenders close ranks;
Was Interpol complicit in ex-Chief's arrest?;
China invests in genome editing of crops;
Imports of U.S. pork surge amid Chinese price spike

Why Iran Fears Its Women

August 13, 2019 Ilan I. Berman The National Interest

In late July, Mousa Ghazanfarabadi, the conservative head of Tehran's Revolutionary Court, announced publicly that the Iranian regime had identified a new "hostile government" with whom interaction was henceforth banned, punishable by up to a decade in prison.