South Asia Strategy Monitor No. 4
Amid border tensions with China, an Indian show of force;
Nepal elections usher in pro-China shift;
Pakistan becomes an oil client of the Kremlin;
Taliban-ISIS feud still simmers
Amid border tensions with China, an Indian show of force;
Nepal elections usher in pro-China shift;
Pakistan becomes an oil client of the Kremlin;
Taliban-ISIS feud still simmers
With few exceptions, aiding Ukraine in its efforts to push back against Russian aggression continues to enjoy broad bipartisan support, both in Congress and among the American public. But precisely how much Washington can and should underwrite Kyiv’s war effort has become something of a political football — especially among conservatives. The arguments are varied and range from worries over fraud to accusations of misplaced priorities. Each has its grounding in legitimate concerns. Yet each fails to grasp the significance of what is at stake in the current fight against Russia’s imperialist ambitions.
A bipartisan call for U.S. business to change its approach to China
China's COVID spike not due to lifting restrictions - WHO
Putin oversees launch of Siberian gas field feeding China
China accused of fresh territorial grab in South China Sea
Senate committee calls out carmakers' Xinjiang supply chain
Moscow begins weaving a new narrative;
Needed: A fund for independent media;
Russia's new samizdat industry;
Tightening Kremlin restrictions on the internet
Putin ramps up wartime propaganda;
Gaming Moscow's munitions;
How Russia's economy weathered the past year;
Another military reshuffle in Moscow
U.S. adds 36 Chinese companies to trade blacklist;
China recalls six officials from UK for beating protester;
U.S. charges Chinese student for harassing peer;
Government appeals dismissal of lawsuit against casino tycoon;
Mongolians protest theft of coal sold to China
The current triumphalism among many in the West regarding the decline of Russian disinformation is somewhat premature. That's because, while Russian propaganda outlets are now having a more difficult time reaching European nations, they're still making major gains in advancing the Kremlin's position—and eroding that of the West—throughout the developing world.
DARPA pushes limits on low satellite orbits;
Brain enhancement will have options;
DTRA automating decontamination;
Jointly countering hypersonics;
Russian exoskeleton development continues
Japan breaks from pacifist legacy, doubles defense spending;
Washington, Manila repair ties... with an eye on Beijing;
Democracies converge on Indonesia to offset China's influence;
China doubles down on Cambodian investments;
China's inaugural "Indian Ocean Forum" sidelines India
Chinese and Indian troops skirmish on the border;
GOP governors ban TikTok on state devices;
EU takes China to WTO over Lithuania trade dispute;
Iran summons Chinese Ambassador over islands dispute;
China militia vessels aim to "Cut the Philippines off"
Ukraine braces for a new offensive;
Russia seeks an alternative in the Americas...
...And formulates an answer to the west's price cap;
Moscow conspires to keep its new territories weak
Kadyrov's war corps;
The Islamist threat to the UK;
The Taliban clamps down further;
Hezbollah and the Ukraine war
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s abrupt mid-December visit to Washington dominated U.S. headlines and commentaries ahead of the holiday season.
The West targets Russian oil…
...as Moscow mulls a workaround;
Putin health rumors swirl;
Knowledge declines in Russia
Hong Kong court convicts Cardinal Joseph Zen and others;
FCC bans sales of Huawei and ZTE equipment;
China trades T-Bills for Russian gold;
China paid Taiwan officer to surrender if war started;
China cultivating British assets-MI5 chief
The Wages of America’s Afghan Withdrawal
Unpackaging Pakistan Politics and Their Regional Implications
China's Shadow over South Asia
India: A Geopolitical Assessment
The Case for an India-First Strategy
Considering a space catapult;
Ukraine's drone destruction app;
Wireless energy transfer intensifying;
3D-printed solid state batteries...;
...and 3D-printed metal parts on the rise
With considerable pomp and circumstance, the Biden administration recently unveiled its signature National Security Strategy. The document, intended as an authoritative expression of the Administration’s priorities in the field of foreign affairs, pays extensive attention to the great power challenges posed by China and Russia, framing them as the greatest threats to contemporary American security.
Russians need to understand what their leader is doing in Ukraine. Dissident journalists are critical to reach them.
An olive branch to Moscow;
More signs of domestic discontent;
What Russian elites think about the war now;
Legalizing war crimes
Return of citizens, reconstruction and reparations.
Russia's war on Ukrainian education;
Another Kremlin critic jailed;
Russia's far right eyes future targets
Taking the fight to Wagner;
A helping hand from Capetown?;
Viktor Bouts' second act
Silencing soldiers' families;
A waning appetite for war;
Russia rails against international accountability;
Putin: No need for another draft - for now;
A skewed prisoner swap
Troubles for TV Rain...;
...and a new start for Ekho;
Russia spreads its propaganda in Africa;
Information and the Chinese way of war
The Prigozhin method of military recruitment;
Moscow is running out of missiles;
Moscow leans on Minsk;
Ukraine strikes back
Suspects charged with supplying China with DOD info;
China sells radar system that can detect U.S. satellites;
Locals in Guangzhou protest COVID curbs;
Hong Kong protest song played before rugby match in Korea;
China's elite seeking to emigrate
Uncertainty clouds U.S. airpower in Asia;
Australia agrees to U.S. strategic bomber presence;
China trains Pakistani counterterrorism agents as attacks mount;
Rethinking China's Pacific Islands influence;
Tokyo plans SDF restructuring
Even as it grapples with its own domestic unrest generated by an unsustainable "zero-COVID" strategy, Beijing is playing a major role in helping Iran's ruling ayatollahs repress that country's captive population.
Iran's quid pro quo to the Kremlin;
Russia's mounting war costs;
...Spur something of a fire sale;
Putin faces mounting discontent at home;
Evolving American perceptions of Russia threat, aid to Ukraine
The United States Space Force, the sixth branch of the armed forces, will soon play a leading role in American foreign policy and will be necessary to protect its economic, political, and social interests at home and abroad.
With his “zero COVID” policy spurring China’s largest anti-government protests in more than three decades, Xi Jinping now faces the challenge of maintaining his legitimacy not just at home but abroad.
How costly has the war in Ukraine been for Russia?
Sino-Pakistani ties warm further;
Islamabad, back in the FATF's good graces;
Myanmar's military... and the network that sustains it;
A helping hand for the Taliban;
The troubled Afghanistan-Pakistan border
Xi: "Nuclear weapons must not be used";
Germany blocks two Chinese foreign investment deals;
China cancels EU chief's speech in Shanghai;
Island nations want China, India to help pay for climate damage;
Chinese women lose gains: World Economic Forum
Prigozhin comes clean;
How Russians consume information;
A new tool in the fight against Russian censorship;
Bishkek: back to the future?
Afghans contemplate fighting for the enemy;
Pentagon: Russia an "acute" threat to the homeland;
Moscow's subversion imperils Moldova;
The Russian ASAT threat
These developments provide a timely reminder (after a nearly two-decade-long decline of freedom and democracy around the world) that people who live under, or are threatened by, authoritarian rule will take great risks for freedom — and that those who live in free societies may treasure their freedom more than we realized.
China and the Vatican extend secret deal;
Chinese fishing boats try to ram a U.S. Coast Guard vessel;
Samsung employees indicted for passing chip tech to China;
China and Russia advance their partnership "at all levels";
China, Russia deepen satellite navigation cooperation
A framework for rebuilding Ukraine;
Teaching Russian students the world according to Moscow;
The ultimate penalty for Russian deserters
Tiktok used to monitor locations of American citizens;
Xi finishes off the Youth League Faction;
The Netherlands uncovers China's illegal "police stations";
China's operatives repatriating people from the U.S. and Canada;
Ireland closes China's police station in Dublin
Turkey flirts with the Taliban;
...As the U.S. quietly provides aid;
ISIS eyes crypto;
...And threatens African energy;
Potential consolidation in the Palestinian arena
When it comes to regional position, a few short months can make a big difference. It's a lesson that Russia is learning the hard way.
Former British and Aussie pilots train the PLA air force;
China dumps bad chips on Russia: Moscow;
China blocks Polish defense minister's flight to Korea;
Rare protest banners in Beijing attack Xi;
"Russia is the storm, China is climate change": German spy chief
Ignoring wiser counsel as well as his people, Germany’s chancellor is allowing Chinese control of key industries.
Is Europe finally waking up to the true nature of the Iranian regime?
Chinese microchips are failing Moscow;
New tactics belie a different hand at the wheel of war;
Yet another German official compromised by the Kremlin;
In Russia, an underground ethnic protest movement emerges;
Israel recalibrates its Ukraine war policy
Bolsonaro is the first incumbent president in Brazil’s 34-year modern democracy to lose re-election, and he previously alleged fraud in its voting system. Nevertheless, Lula’s victory will nourish a growing challenge for the United States.
Cracks in the Kremlin consensus;
Western tech still fuels Putin's war machine;
Iran and the Russian war effort;
Putin consolidates power over Moscow-claimed territories
India's media sphere tightens;
How Russian disinformation is changing;
Manipulating media in Africa;
Turkey's new - and authoritarian - disinformation bill
Changes are visible at the top of China's power structure—and these are likely to dictate the shape of Chinese politics and foreign policy in the years to come.