Security
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Between Nations: The Chinese Diaspora in an Era of Geopolitical Tension
As geopolitical tensions between the United States and China intensify, the Chinese diaspora has increasingly become the subject of scrutiny within narratives of national security, influence, and suspicion. However, this framing blurs the complex and contested nature of diaspora identity. Public discourse—especially in the Western world—has begun to frame the…
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The Invisible Initiative: How China is Using Fishing as a Cover for Gray Zone Warfare
Behind the same nets aboard civilian fishing ships that cast 44% of the world’s fishing product hides a sophisticated web of legal facade serving as the foundation for China’s naval Gray Zone Warfare; one that justifies armed inspections and attacks on foreign fishing vessels, the disregard for international maritime safety…
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China’s Geopolitical Blind Spot: Why Beijing Can’t Navigate the New Middle East
China’s growing economic footprint in the Middle East has not been matched by a corresponding geopolitical strategy capable of navigating the region’s persistent security dilemmas. In fact, Beijing’s adherence to non-intervention, quasi-mediatory diplomacy, and strategic risk aversion has constrained its ability to shape regional outcomes, ultimately limiting its influence at…
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The Jakarta Method and the Making of Southeast Asian Security
In the mid-1960s, mass killings in Indonesia were viewed as an effective security solution to the growing Communist Party and to critics of the Suharto regime. Backed by Washington, Indonesia’s military crushed perceived threats through coordinated violence–an approach later described by American journalist Vincent Bevins as the “Jakarta Method.” Despite…
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From Haven to Hub: Thailand’s New Trade of Transnational Repression
For decades, dissidents and activists in Southeast Asia have found reprieve and refuge within Thailand’s borders, which once served as a shield against persecution and unlawful silencing. Yet a single coup in 2014 enabled Thai General Prayuth Chan-ocha’s rise and consolidation of power, who tore this veil down with the…
Sino-Southeast Initiative 