Regional Issues

China Landpower Studies Center | Nov. 13, 2025

China’s Foreign Police Training: A Global Footprint

New data reveal how China’s foreign police training programs have become an integral part of Beijing’s strategy to remake global security.

China Landpower Studies Center | Nov. 13, 2025

SSI Live 118 – The China Strategic Competition Seminar

In this episode of SSI Live, Major Brennan Deveraux interviews Colonel Kyle Marcrum and Lieutenant Colonel Paul Milas on the SSI-developed China Strategic Competition Seminar. The conversation explores the origin and relevance of the seminar,

China Landpower Studies Center | Nov. 7, 2025

Forecasting the PRC’s Next Global Initiative

Executive Summary:• Xi Jinping could unveil a “global environmental initiative” as soon as mid-November 2025, at the COP31 summit in Brazil. This would align with previous initiatives that have been announced at international forums.• This new

China Landpower Studies Center | Oct. 27, 2025

The PLA’s Progress toward World-Class Ground Force Capabilities

This essay examines Xi Jinping’s dictum of creating a world-class military by 2049 and assesses the progress of the PLA ground forces toward achieving that notional benchmark.

China Landpower Studies Center | Sept. 30, 2025

Global Public Security with Chinese Characteristics

A conversation between Dr. Sheena Chestnut Greitens and Bonnie Glaser on China's Global Security Initiative.

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

Venezuela: The Path Forward
November 6, 2024 — Thanks to the courageous work of the Venezuelan opposition, including obtaining physical and photographic evidence of over 80% of the individual “acts” from Venezuela’s more than 30,000 polling places, the world generally knows that Edmundo Gonzalez received far more votes than Nicholas Maduro in the country’s July 28, 2024, Presidential election. Nonetheless, he is unlikely to successfully take control of the state apparatus that controls Venezuela’s territory on Inauguration Day, January 10, 2025. ... MORE

Venezuela: The Path Forward | R. Evan Ellis

Paraguay’s Security Challenges and the Government Response
October 28, 2024 — This article analyzes the security challenges in Paraguay and the government response under the... MORE

Chile’s Expanding Defense Relationship with China
October 18, 2024 — From September 9-14, 2024, Chilean Defense Minister Maya Fernandez Allende, granddaughter of Chile’s... MORE

Chile’s Expanding Defense Relationship with China | R. Evan Ellis

China in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: A New Dynamic in Critical Mineral Procurement
October 17, 2024 — Critical minerals will continue to grow in importance across the globe in the coming decades as technological advancements require greater quantities of these materials. The 2023 US Department of Energy Critical Materials Assessment report listed seven materials as critical in the short term because of their uses for magnets, batteries, and fuel cells: dysprosium, neodymium, gallium, graphite, terbium, iridium, and cobalt... MORE

Re-Asserting the Value of the Individual for Latin America’s Security and Prosperity
October 15, 2024 — Empowerment of the individual, not the state, is the key to innovation, prosperity, physical and political security for Latin America, as the region engages with an unprecedented array of challenges and new partners. ... MORE

Re-Asserting the Value of the Individual for Latin America’s Security and Prosperity | Dr. R. Evan Ellis

PRC Strategic Adaptation in Africa
October 9, 2024 — The People’s Republic of China (PRC)’s expanding security footprint in Africa, marked by increased military cooperation and infrastructure investments, poses a significant challenge to US strategic interests. As outlined in the Department of Defense’s annual report to Congress, China is using its diplomatic and multilateral platforms to reinforce defense influence established through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).1 The United States has begun to counter China’s policy maneuvers with competition in the economic space, through multilateral efforts like the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI)... MORE

PRC Strategic Adaptation in Africa | Jake R. Rinaldi

Peace and Unity: China’s Growing Military Footprint in Tanzania
October 9, 2024 — The July and August 2024 Sino-Tanzanian training exercise Peace Unity-2024 (和平团结-2024) provided the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) an opportunity to apply its growing joint expeditionary capability, while also strengthening its relationship with a key strategic partner on the African continent.1 Commemorating 60 years of bilateral relations between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Tanzania, the exercise included antipiracy and counterterrorism training events that enabled the PLA to train in Tanzania’s complex terrain alongside elements of the Tanzanian People’s Defense Forces (TPDF)... MORE

Peace and Unity: China’s Growing Military Footprint in Tanzania | Jake Vartanian

Understanding the PRC’s Selective Use of Military Hotlines
October 4, 2024 — Executive Summary: The PRC’s strategic use of and reluctance to establish military hotlines reflect a calculated approach to escalation risk, which can be seen in crises ranging from the accidental bombing of its embassy in Belgrade in 1999 to the present day. There is a recognition that hotlines offer tactical benefits, but they are not viewed as a solution... MORE

The PRC’s strategic use of and reluctance to establish military hotlines reflect a calculated approach to escalation risk, which can be seen in crises ranging from the accidental bombing of its embassy in Belgrade in 1999 to the present day. There is a recognition that hotlines offer tactical benefits, but they are not viewed as a solution to

Bargaining for Justice: Ukraine, Gaza, and the Ethics of Conflict Termination
September 23, 2024 — As wars in Ukraine and Gaza continue with little end in sight, the sense of urgency to determine how they should end is increasing, given how the wars could end. A just war aims to establish a better state of peace, but a better state of peace may not always be achievable, and even when it is achievable, it may not be good enough. When that is the case, actors must determine on what terms to settle... MORE

Bargaining for Justice: Ukraine, Gaza, and the Ethics of Conflict Termination | C. Anthony Pfaff

Ukraine in NATO: Beyond the ‘Irreversible Path’
September 20, 2024 — Whether and how NATO might pull Ukraine closer attracted a great deal of attention at the 2024... MORE

Ukraine in NATO: Beyond the ‘Irreversible Path’ | Jorh R. Deni