Report

Aug 8, 2024

The future of digital transformation and workforce development in Latin America and the Caribbean

By Isabel Chiriboga, Maite Gonzalez Latorre, Diego Area

During an off-the-record private roundtable, thought leaders and practitioners from across the Americas evaluated progress made in the implementation of the Regional Agenda for Digital Transformation.

Caribbean
Digital Policy

Issue Brief

Aug 8, 2024

Sailing through the spyglass: The strategic advantages of blue OSINT, ubiquitous sensor networks, and deception

By Guido L. Torres and Austin Gray

In today’s technologically enabled world, the movements of every vessel—from nimble fishing boats to colossal aircraft carriers—can be meticulously tracked by a massive network of satellites and sensors. With every ripple on the ocean’s surface under scrutiny, surprise naval maneuvers will soon be relics of the past.

Artificial Intelligence
Defense Policy
In China's eastern city of Jiujiang, workers in the steel building materials market hoisting steel.

Issue Brief

Aug 7, 2024

China Pathfinder: Q2 2024 update

By GeoEconomics Center and Rhodium Group

In the second quarter of 2024, China’s leaders insisted that economic growth was strong and on track. However, China’s financial vital signs–property markets, stock prices, and consumer sentiment–all indicate weakness.

China
Financial Regulation
People walking on a bridge into the distance.

Russia Tomorrow

Aug 7, 2024

A Russia without Russians? Putin’s disastrous demographics

By Harley Balzer

A new Atlantic Council report explores the effect of Putin’s politics on domestic Russian demographic change. Is Putin heading towards a Russia without Russians?

Democratic Transitions
Europe & Eurasia
Facade of the Palace of Justice in the main square of Bogota, Colombia with the caption "Colombians, weapons gave you independence, laws will give you freedom."

Report

Jul 31, 2024

Justice Fair Play Initiative: The key to improving justice delivery in Colombia

By Juan Carlos Botero, Tania Luna Blanco, Astrid Liliana Sánchez-Mejía, Carlos Andrés Uribe Piedrahíta, Nicolás Cabra Ruiz, Natalia Correa Sánchez, Geoff Ramsey, Isabel Chiriboga, and Enrique Millán-Mejía

An accessible judicial system is crucial in countering global threats to democracy by enabling swift and fair dispute resolutions. This study demonstrates that such system can reduce uncertainty and create an environment conducive to investment and sustainable economic development.

Colombia
Latin America

Report

Jul 30, 2024

After 2011, the United States stayed on the sidelines—to Libya’s detriment

By Ben Fishman

When reflecting over the last decade of the US policy, especially in the Trump and Biden administrations, three consistent trends emerge: insufficient support for the UN political process to restore legitimacy to Libya’s political; leadership, repeated appeals to eastern warlord and head of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Khalifa Haftar to participate in a political process; and most consequentially for the United States, a seeming lack of attention to Russia’s increased presence in Libya.

Conflict
Libya

Report

Jul 30, 2024

Libya is the crucial hub for Moscow’s activities in Africa

By Chiara Lovotti, Alissa Pavia

Over the past decade, Russia’s involvement in Libya is evidence of its realization that it could transition from a marginal power to a significant competitor in the country, and thus in the broader Middle East and North Africa.

Conflict
Middle East

Report

Jul 30, 2024

After anti-migration efforts shrank its influence, Rome needs a new Libya policy

By Karim Mezran, Aldo Liga

It has been more than thirteen years since the outbreak of the 2011 Libyan revolution and the moment when Italy reluctantly supported the NATO-led intervention that imposed a no-fly zone over Libya purportedly to protect the population from Muammar Gaddafi’s retaliation.

Italy
Libya

Report

Jul 30, 2024

Benghazi is a major stumbling block for national reconciliation efforts

By Mary Fitzgerald

In May 2014 Libyan General Khalifa Haftar launched a then-unauthorized military operation from Benghazi, Libya’s second city. The operation, which Haftar named Karama, or Dignity, was centered on but not limited to Benghazi; its declared aim was to eradicate what Haftar and his associates described as terrorism. However, it prompted a swell of armed opposition from those who suspected it was a pretext for the septuagenarian general’s ambition to rule Libya.

Conflict
Libya

Report

Jul 30, 2024

Internationalized kleptocracy is on the rise in Libya

By Oliver Windridge

On April 16, 2024, UN Special Representative for Libya Abdoulaye Bathily announced he would resign, citing a “lack of political will and good faith” among Libyan leaders. Few would disagree with his diagnosis that the vested interests of Libyan leaders have created a roadblock for progress.

Conflict
Libya

Report

Jul 30, 2024

The UN should take a bolder stance in Libya

By Álvaro de Argüelles

The two main armed conflicts of the last two years—in Gaza and Ukraine—have led to the belief that international politics are ruled again by sheer force and that the United Nations is no longer a relevant actor.

Conflict
Libya

Report

Jul 30, 2024

Libya’s protracted crisis, ten years of electoral deadlock

By Ben Fishman, Alvaro de Argüelles Lugo , Mary Fitzgerald, Aldo Liga, Chiara Lovotti, Karim Mezran, Alissa Pavia

A decade has passed since the last elections were held in Libya, and the country remains mired in a stalemate and deeply divided.

Libya
Middle East

Issue Brief

Jul 30, 2024

Effective US government strategies to address China’s information influence

By Kenton Thibaut

To mount the most effective response to Chinese influence and the threat it poses to democratic interests at home and on the international stage, the United States should develop a global information strategy, one that reflects the interconnected nature of regulatory, industrial, and diplomatic policies with regard to the information domain.

China
Digital Policy

Issue Brief

Jul 29, 2024

Russia’s digital tech isolationism: Domestic innovation, digital fragmentation, and the Kremlin’s push to replace Western digital technology

By Justin Sherman

Russia’s technological isolation is both a reality and a desired goal for Moscow. This piece explores the impacts of this phenomenon and offers recommendations for how to deal with that evolving digital ecosystem.

Cybersecurity
Internet

Issue Brief

Jul 24, 2024

OT cyber policy: The Titanic or the iceberg

By Danielle Jablanski

Current policy does not address the issue of cyber-physical security with a systemic approach, instead focusing with tunnel vision on specific events. This analysis uses the iceberg model for systems thinking to address policy gaps in the OT ecosystem, detailing recommendations for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

Cybersecurity

Report

Jul 22, 2024

How Venezuela became a model for digital authoritarianism

By Iria Puyosa, Andrés Azpúrua, Daniel Suárez Pérez

As Venezuelans head to the polls on July 28, the massive online surveillance apparatus developed under incumbent Nicolás Maduro watches street video, monitors social media and phone communications, and gathers data from online movements. What’s behind this digital repression—and will it spread?

Corruption
Latin America
Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS)

Issue Brief

Jul 15, 2024

Modernizing space-based nuclear command, control, and communications

By Peter L. Hays and Sarah Mineiro

While nuclear command, control, and communications (NC3) is in the midst of a modernization overhaul, the space-based elements of NC3 face unique geopolitical, technical, and bureaucratic challenges. This paper focuses on space-based missions and elements of the existing NC3 system, analyzing how ongoing modernization programs are addressing these challenges as well as offering recommendations.

China
Defense Policy

Issue Brief

Jul 8, 2024

Turkey’s emerging and disruptive technologies capacity and NATO: Defense policy, prospects, and limitations

By Can Kasapoğlu and Sine Özkaraşahin

An issue brief exploring Turkey’s defense technological ecosystem and leveraging its capabilities for the benefit of NATO.

Defense Industry
Defense Policy

Issue Brief

Jul 8, 2024

Is Iran an ideological state?

By Mahmood Sariolghalam

Mahmood Sariolghalam argues that Islamic fundamentalism did motivate Iran’s international presence in the first decade of the revolution. However, after the death of its founder, Ayatollah Khomeini, the country’s foreign policy now prioritizes policies to guarantee its political survival.

Iran
Middle East

Issue Brief

Jul 8, 2024

Why the EU needs US liquefied natural gas

By John M. Roberts, Ariel Cohen

Europe is facing tough choices as it confronts Russia’s unexpected reentry into European gas markets. In this issue brief, the authors argue that Europe will need gas imports from non-Russian sources such as the United States for many years to come.

Energy & Environment
Energy Markets & Governance