by Arul Braighta Arulanantham Image Courtesy : Adobe Stock Introduction: Beyond Resource Romance When Salvador Allende nationalized Chile's copper mines in 1971, the world watched a peripheral nation challenge the established order of resource extraction. U.S. multinationals retreated amid accusations of excessive profits, diplomatic pressure mounted, and Chile stood defiant declaring the expropriation a "Day of National Dignity." Half a century later, another resource drama

By Abia Fathima Image courtesy: The Hindu Abstract This article examines the geopolitics of the critical mineral supply chain, which is dominated by the People's Republic of China's structural control of midstream processing and refining, holding more than 90% of global rare earth separation capacity. Beijing's strategy was formalized in 2025 with the weaponisation of export controls, most notably by applying the Foreign Direct Product Rule to rare earth magnets, claiming ju

By Balaji Chandramohan Image courtesy: DD News The recent visit of the Russian President to India as a part of the 23rd Annual Summit, India-Russia relations continue to have predominance in the strategic arena. 1 The Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership – established in 2010 and built on decades of cooperation – has maintained steady momentum through 2024–25 despite shifting global geopolitics bringing both Moscow and New Delhi together. 2 Meanwhile, since the signi

By Kirsten Wilfred Coelho Image courtesy: Reuters Once considered to be the hub for smartphone innovation worldwide, Huawei phones are now back in the limelight. In 2019, several tech experts worldwide called it a sad day when the USA put Huawei mobiles on the “Entity” list, which basically translated into a complete ban on the sales of the phone on US territory. The then-Trump administration went to the extent of preventing major service providers like Google from dealing w

Image Courtesy: Vijesti Introduction: The concept of a “G-2”, a US–China global duopoly, has received renewed attention within both the media and strategic-policy circles over recent months. In this sense, the declaration by the U.S. President in 2025 that “THE G2 WILL BE CONVENING SHORTLY!” re-ignited speculation that Washington and Beijing might seek to reimagine global governance through a tightly knit bilateral framework. For instance, The Economic Times framed the G-2 ar

Over the past five years, Beijing’s external behaviour has moved between two striking modes: (a) aggressive, performative confrontation-  the “wolf-warrior” style of blunt threats, public shaming, trade punishments and menacing rhetoric and (b) targeted, transactional diplomacy when it serves Beijing’s material interests (trade deals, mediation and vaccine/aid outreach). The sharpest public evidence that China is behaving undiplomatically  are recent highly visible incidents

Image Courtesy: The Quint The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has officially inducted Fujian After extensive trials, China’s third aircraft carrier adding offensive capabilities for Beijing in the Indo Pacific region. 1 Chinese President Xi Jinping boarded the Fujian for an inspection tour in the city of Sanya in southern Hainan province. China is undergoing military modernization under President Xi Jinping, who has sought to challenge the United States' military suprema

Image Courtesy: Brussels Morning Founded in 1923, INTERPOL currently has 196 member states, making it the world’s second-largest international organization after the United Nations. INTERPOL is an essential platform for global law enforcement cooperation. It closely monitors transnational criminal activity including terrorism, cybercrime, and organized crime, and conducts exchanges with law enforcement agencies worldwide through its network of National Central Bureaus. INTERP

Aligning with the world to confront climate risks while energizing broad participation to achieve sustainable development Climate change is rapidly reshaping the global economic structure and risk landscape. Taiwan is not immune to this growing challenge. In the summer of 2025, southern and eastern Taiwan were struck by successive typhoons and torrential rainfall, causing severe flooding in many locations and underscoring the profound effect of extreme climate on regional dev

Image Courtesy: ABC News The Arctic is a polar region located at the northernmost point of Earth. What was once a frozen wasteland is now a geopolitical hotspot. The 2009 US Geological Survey report raised global interest in the region. It estimated that the region holds 13 per cent of untapped oil and 30 per cent of the world’s natural gas. The report raised global interest in the region. Subsequently, the People’s Republic of China released its Arctic policy document in 201

Theme:   Fisheries, Security, and Regional Dynamics in the Tamil Nadu–Sri Lanka Context Date:  November 21, 2025 As part of the Fisheries Day 2025  celebrations, a special panel discussion  will be organized to explore the multifaceted challenges, policy dimensions, and security implications of the fisheries sector in Tamil Nadu, with a focus on its cross-border linkages with Sri Lanka. The session will bring together leading experts, practitioners, and policymakers to exchan

Image Courtesy: Peace for Asia Water has become a source of peace and conflict all over the world. It is calculated that by 2030 the total freshwater will be available only to 60% of the world population and South Asia will be a major region that will severely suffer from water scarcity. Even though the  mighty Himalayas are a source of many of the transboundary rivers in South Asia such as Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra, due to climate change, countries like India, Pakistan, N

Image Courtesy: The Atlantic Introduction The Red Sea is one of the world's most important trade routes, with its southern tip in the Bab el-Mandeb strait (between Yemen and Djibouti) and its northern edge in the Suez Canal and the Gulf of Aqaba (Shay, 2023). The area serves as a gateway to world energy supplies and trade. The Republic of Djibouti is geographically located at the crossroads of Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. Its access is pivotal to China's policy to

The 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Fourth Plenary Session was convened from October 20–23 2025 which has got strategic and historic connotation. 1 The fourth plenary meeting was one of the most important ones of the party in its five-year cycle between the 20th and the 21st Party Congresses scheduled for 2027, because it set the strategic direction for the coming period, especially in relation to the next Five Year Plan, which in this cas

Image Courtesy: The Guardian When Donald Trump announced that the G2 would convene shortly, it seemed as though the Thucydides Trap that had defined Sino-American relations for decades had suddenly loosened its grip, challenging decades of scholarship predicting inevitable confrontation between a rising power and an established hegemon. Amid years of escalating rivalry, trade wars, technological decoupling, and accusations of authoritarianism versus democratic decline, the no

Theme: China’s Influence Operations in South Asia The Chennai Centre for China Studies (C3S)  invites research papers from students, young scholars, and early-career researchers for presentation under the theme “China’s Influence Operations in South Asia.” China’s growing political, economic, and strategic footprint in South Asia has reshaped regional dynamics, creating new challenges and opportunities. This call seeks to encourage original research and informed debate on the

C3S China Watch is a fortnightly bulletin offering news and analysis related to China from an Indian perspective. The newsletter is compiled by Team C3S. It has emerged as an essential brief for the research community, strategic affairs community, and China watchers from around the globe.

Image Courtesy: Mint As the United States seeks to establish it’s strategic pivot in the Eurasia, it wishes to get back the strategically located Bagram Airfield located in Afghanistan. 1  Bagram Airfield is located in Afghanistan's Parwan Province, approximately 11 kilometres southeast of the city of Charikar and 47 kilometres north of Kabul. The airfield has an 11,800-foot runway capable of serving bomber and large cargo aircraft.  During his first term, Donald Trump negoti

Military-Civil Fusion is a national strategy of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to develop the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) into a...

Abstract The 19 th  Century was particularly cataclysmic for China due both to internal and external  circumstances. Great rebellions,...