Regional Issues

Regional Issues | April 15, 2025

Don’t waste this crisis, Europe: consolidate your defense industry

Turn your excess national defense champions into continental ones.Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and questions about the American commitment to NATO have cast a spotlight on European efforts to safeguard security on the continent. But today, the

Regional Issues | April 15, 2025

A Drawdown of US Forces in Europe Is All but Certain

Here’s how the Pentagon can rebalance its approach to the continent without sacrificing US interests.The Trump administration has only just begun to fill its ranks with the political appointees who will flesh out the future of US defense policy. One

China Landpower Studies Center | March 24, 2025

Amid Trump Tariffs, Where Do China-Mexico Ties Stand?

Mexico’s government is attempting to downplay its relationship with China to avoid Trump’s ire, but ties continue beneath the surface. In the beginning of March 2025, I traveled to Mexico to speak with a range of officials and experts about

Publications | March 18, 2025

North Korea in Ukraine: Analyzing Authoritarian Cooperation

The deployment of North Korean forces to Ukraine marks a critical inflection point in global security dynamics, challenging long-held assumptions about the limits of cooperation between authoritarian states. This development, unprecedented in its

Publications | Feb. 21, 2025

Toward a More Effective DoD Contribution to Strategic Competition in the...

Innovative new thinking is needed on the security challenges the People’s Republic of China poses in Latin America and the Department of Defense’s role in the US response, including (1) enhanced security cooperation that helps key democratic partners

Category: Regional Issues, China Landpower Studies Center, European Security, INDOPACOM (Indo-Pacific Region), South & Latin America

Security Implications for the United States from Iranian and Hezbollah Activities in Latin America
December 18, 2024 — This presentation will examine engagement with Latin America by Iran, its government agents, and... MORE

Security Implications for the United States from Iranian and Hezbollah Activities in Latin America | R. Evan Ellis
WEBINAR

Making the Case for Democratic, Limited Government and Economic Liberty in the Americas
December 17, 2024 — This work is derived from an address given by the author to the InterAmerican Institute for... MORE

Making the Case for Democratic, Limited Government and Economic Liberty in the Americas | R. Evan Ellis

Will Assad’s Defeat be Putin’s Waterloo?
December 10, 2024 — The narrative of Russia’s ascendancy in 2024 is beginning to look like more fiction than fact. The Assad regime in Syria has become a casualty of Moscow’s increasingly desperate efforts in Ukraine, and its collapse is a strategic and operational blow that undermines the narrative of Russia as ascendant, Kyiv as doomed, and Vladimir Putin as strategic mastermind. ... MORE

Will Assad’s defeat be Putin’s Waterloo? | John R. Deni

China’s Next Step in Modernizing the People’s Liberation Army: A New Reserve Service System
December 5, 2024 — The Chinese Communist Party’s massive active-duty army—the largest in the world—understates the manpower available to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) during a future protracted war. Despite the hundreds of thousands of combat troops garrisoned around the country, a prolonged war of attrition will require more than movement of forces from one side of the country to another... MORE

China’s Next Step in Modernizing the People’s Liberation Army: A New Reserve Service System | Joshua M. Arostegui

Pretexts for War and the Preinvasion Crisis in Ukraine
December 5, 2024 — The US strategy in the run-up to the invasion of Ukraine appeared to undermine Russian efforts to justify the war. While studies of international crises typically focus on the goals of deterrence and escalation management, recent events in Ukraine show that counterjustification is another important objective. Russia used covert activities and deception to try and create a pretext for its invasion, and the United States aggressively countered these efforts... MORE

Pretexts for War and the Preinvasion Crisis in Ukraine | Ron Gurantz

China’s Summit Diplomacy: Insights From BRICS, APEC and the G20
November 26, 2024 — From late October through mid-November, China’s President Xi Jinping held high-profile engagements in three very different major international forums: the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia; the APEC Leadership Forum in Lima, Peru; and the G-20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Beyond the dominant role of Xi and China in each summit, the three distinct performances by Xi also provide important... MORE

China’s Summit Diplomacy: Insights From BRICS,
APEC and the G20 | R. Evan Ellis

Challenges and Opportunities for U.S.-Mexico Security Cooperation
November 26, 2024 — While policy clashes between the elected governments of Mexico and the United States in the coming years appear likely, the degree to which those tensions degrade the commercial relationship and security cooperation that is vital to both will depend on the forbearance and statesmanship of leaders on each side... MORE

Challenges and Opportunities for US-Mexico Security Cooperation | R. Evan Ellis

Parameters | Winter 2024–25
November 21, 2024 — Welcome to the Winter 2024–25 issue of Parameters. This issue consists of an In Focus special commentary, three forums (Indo-Pacific, Security Cooperation, and Historical Studies), and the regular Civil-Military Relations Corner installment... MORE

Security Challenges in the Dutch Caribbean
November 12, 2024 — This work examines security challenges facing the Dutch Caribbean, including narcotrafficking and other forms of organized crime, money laundering, Venezuelan and other refugee flows, and the little-understood activities of criminal groups operating within the region’s Chinese minority communities. It also examines the successes and challenges in coordination between law enforcement and other government entities in the Dutch Caribbean, and between the Dutch Caribbean and the European Netherlands,... MORE

Security Challenges in the Dutch Caribbean | R. Evan Ellis

Strategic Implication of the Chinese-Operated Port of Chancay
November 7, 2024 — This article examines the Port of Chancay from a strategic perspective, with a focus on how COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Company) achieved unprecedented control over the operation of the new Peruvian megaport, the impact that the port is likely to have on the global logistics system, and its strategic implications in time of war with the United States. It argues that the project is illustrative of how the PRC... MORE

Strategic Implication of the Chinese-Operated Port of Chancay | R. Evan Ellis for La Red China y América Latina