Jamestown Foundation

Executive Summary The Fifth Plenum of the 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) set records for low attendance and large-scale disciplinary measures in the post-Mao Zedong era. Zhang Shengmin was added to the Politburo, but there were no promotions to the Central Military Commission. Amid the purge, the military has all but vanished from the Central Committee: only five of its 44 military members formally attended. Central Committee vacancies were not fully filled

Executive Summary: French soccer player Kylian Mbappé has unexpectedly found himself the subject of a political controversy in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) following the resurfacing of an interview in which he discussed a meme that compared him to Mao Zedong. The controversy originated on fan community platform Dongqiudi and spread into a nationwide “cancellation” campaign against Mbappé due to his perceived slight against the Chinese people and nation. The PRC is leveraging this

Executive Summary: Novatek—the largest independent producer of natural gas in Russia—illustrates how large Russian businesses have had to show political and material support for the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine to maintain operations in Russia, as well as the international costs of aligning with the Kremlin.  Private Russian companies operating in spheres of strategic interest to the Kremlin have never been fully independent. Prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, howe

Executive summary: Russia’s Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor) imposed bans on seven Georgian companies on October 9 without citing violations, copying measures used against Armenia since April and pointing to political rather than sanitary motives. The ban tests Georgian Dream’s claim that staying out of Western sanctions against Russia protects Georgia’s economy, even though direct losses are limited because wine makes up

Executive Summary: The Kremlin’s “killing” of Novaya Gazeta, Moscow’s oldest independent newspaper, is a troubling sign that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime is returning the Russian media to what it was before Gorbachev introduced glasnost, one where criticism was possible, but generalization was not. Because of the paper’s prestige, the Kremlin’s forcible closure of this flagship of media freedom sends a chilling message to other outlets. They could be next if they do not fall

Executive Summary Chinese Communist Party (CCP) insiders appear to be developing a consensus that portends a more confident foreign policy approach to Washington ahead of leadership summits in late 2026. Beijing regards the United States’ apparent acceptance of a “constructive relationship of strategic stability” as a significant diplomatic achievement and evidence of an improving position for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) relative to the ongoing decline of the United States. Th

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Executive Summary: In July, fighters from the anti-Taliban Sepahiyan-e Mihan launched an assault on the district center of Yaftali Sufla in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan Province under the leadership of Abdul Qayyum Shikarchi, better known as “Qayyum Khan Malang.” Qayyum Khan Malang, an ethnic Tajik and former Afghan Special Forces member, has recently emerged as the Homeland Security Front’s (HSF) public face. Malang’s emergence as a resistance commander in Badakhshan comes as local grieva

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Executive summary: Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted the third Russia–Africa Summit in Moscow on October 28–29, meeting delegations from 48 countries and approximately 20 African leaders. The summit produced few practical results despite its significant scale and pomp. Russia’s deteriorating finances are undermining its ability to finance foreign partnerships while sustaining its war against Ukraine. Signs of economic decline include Russia’s 2027 budget projecting a huge deficit, P

Executive summary: Georgia’s Constitutional Court has begun hearing Georgian Dream’s lawsuit to ban five pro-Western opposition parties, whose electoral lists together won nearly 38 percent of the vote and 61 parliamentary seats in 2024. Georgian Dream accuses the parties of unconstitutional activity dating to 2004–2012, while opposition leaders warn the case aims to install a pro-Russian dictatorship and could legitimize Russia’s 2008 occupation. The European Parliament warns a ban wo

Executive Summary: The 2026 Global Governance Forum was carefully stage-managed by the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs—part of the united front system—to present an image of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as a benevolent provider of techno-utopian solutions for the rest of the world. Beijing is adept at using events like the forum, which capped a year of impressive consensus-building, particularly at the United Nations, and particularly among Global South countries, to

This article is based on six interviews: two with senior representatives from Ukrainian non-governmental organizations that assist with evacuations from Russian-occupied territories, whose work involves direct contact with and support for evacuees; one with a senior representative of a humanitarian initiative working to locate, return, reintegrate, and support Ukrainian children affected by occupation; one with the head of a Ukrainian company that regularly conducts qualitative and quantitative

This article reconstructs daily life in Ukraine’s occupied territories from three interviews recorded by The Reckoning Project—a global team of journalists and lawyers documenting, publicizing, and helping build cases of atrocity crimes—with members of one family from Enerhodar, a city in northwestern Zaporizhzhia oblast. Viktor, Iryna, Andrii and Kateryna are pseudonyms. Some identifying details have been withheld for security reasons. In Russian-occupied Enerhodar, the guns usually bega

Executive Summary U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent visit to Uzbekistan marked Washington’s most concrete push yet to compete with Beijing in Central Asia, especially on critical minerals and connectivity. Rubio emphasized that Washington would not force Tashkent to choose between the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), unlike the more confrontational approach of the first Trump administration. U.S. outreach to Uzbekistan still trails PRC engagement. The

Executive Summary: Chinese military writers studying the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in Russia’s war in Ukraine have concluded that its decisive value lies in shortening the kill chain rather than in fully autonomous weapons. In their reading, AI plays four roles: turning sensor data into targets, accelerating planning and command, keeping drones on target when jamming cuts the link, and mass-produced propaganda and deep-fakes. Each of these roles rests on the combat data, comp

Executive Summary The Regulations on the Registration and Management of Public Service Units, published on October 26, set “comprehensively strengthening Party leadership over public service units” as a legislative purpose. They give the Party leadership system in schools, hospitals, research institutes, and other public service units a basis in administrative regulations. The new penalties go as far as revoking a unit’s legal person certificate. The regulations also complete the procedur

Executive Summary: Beijing is ramping up its political warfare targeting the Philippines. Beijing’s escalation since the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration came to power in 2022 is likely due to what it perceives as Manila’s increased maritime assertiveness and comments surrounding the Taiwan Strait. The Chinese government sanctioned Philippine defense minister Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. in June, an unprecedented step against a cabinet official of a country with whom it maintains diplom

Executive Summary: The United Front Work Department has always had an important role in managing capitalists in China, including their industry associations and chambers of commerce. Yet, a decoupling effort of government-linked groups that began in 2015 scattered vital Party work across several bodies. This has recently been addressed. Since it was created in 2023, the Society Work Department has been mainly known for its role in ensuring social harmony at lower levels and reaching new e