Publications

China Policy Monitor No. 1641

August 7, 2025 Joshua Eisenman

Panama auditor files suit to scrap CK Hutchison port contracts;
China earmarks $12.5 billion for 2025 child subsidies
U.S. confronts China on covert Russian drone engine sales;
Sexual images of Chinese women shared via Telegram;
Shaolin temple Abbot defrocked for "extremely deplorable" behavior

Georgia’s Spiral towards Authoritarianism: Can it be Brought Back from the Brink?

August 6, 2025 Alexander Scrivener Central Asia-Caucasus Institute

In over six months after disputed parliamentary elections, Georgia’s democracy is on life support. The ruling Georgian Dream party is moving towards full authoritarianism at breakneck speed, passing a battery of laws that threaten the very existence of independent civil society. Party leaders regularly threaten to go even further and institute an outright ban on much of the opposition.

After Karabakh: War, Peace, and the Forging of a New Caucasus

August 5, 2025 Svante E. Cornell Central Asia Caucasus Institute

The outcome of the Second Karabakh War is a watershed event in the modern history of Eurasia. It represents the moment of conception of a new South Caucasus, the only part of the world that borders on Russia, Turkey, and Iran. Unsurprisingly, external powers like the U.S., China, the EU, India, and the GCC states are all taking greater interest in its future.