China

Renewable Power: How China Came to Dominate the Electric Vehicle and Battery Industry

In China, electric vehicle technology has undergone a revolution over the past twenty years: from lagging behind the developed nations to becoming an industry leader. In the race for global leadership in the battery supply chains, the PRC has solidified its position through a strategic combination of domestic policies that include electric vehicle and mineral resource policies, complemented by its strategic five-year plans.

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Europe’s Broken Order and the Prospect of a New Cold War

The Russian and western visions of European security have profoundly different ideational roots: balance of power embedded in realist geopolitics versus liberal rules-based order. Russia is a revisionist power aiming to re-establish a European security order based on the balance of power, including a recognition of its empire and sphere of influence. Russia’s aggressive pursuit of this vision has forced the West to defend the rules-based liberal order in Europe and beyond.

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Photo by Handout: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / AFP / Scanpix

A Tale of Two Populists: The Foreign Policy of PiS and Fidesz

This analysis into the foreign policies of Poland and Hungary under PiS and Fidesz, particularly in the context of the Russian war on Ukraine. Despite both parties being often labelled as populist, their foreign policy positions and actions differ. The ongoing Russian war against Ukraine has made these differences more visible, impacting their relationships with each other, other nations, and the EU.

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Allies Help Those Who Help Themselves: How Estonia and Japan Approach Deterrence

Up until the blatant act of Russian aggression in Ukraine in 2022, the West had been gradually shifting its attention towards East Asia, with China seen as the primary challenge of the first half of the 21st century. The new context requires a thorough reassessment of international security architecture by all national stakeholders. This, in turn, offers Estonia and Japan the opportunity to enrich their security perspectives on common strategic threats, as well as on broader geopolitical shifts caused by Russia and China.

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AP/Kremlin Pool Photo/Scanpix

What Are the Legacies of Sino-Russian Relations?

The Sino-Russian relationship was, for many years, a subject that failed to excite. Very few experts committed time and effort to exploring its ups and downs. Those that did spent their time debating whether the relationship was really a marriage of true minds or a marriage of convenience.

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China and Rare Earths: Risks to Supply Chain Resilience in Europe

This analysis argues that the EU and NATO’s efforts to strengthen supply chain resilience in critical raw materials are vulnerable to the People’s Republic of China’s leverage on key industry actors. It studies the case of the planned expansion of Silmet, Europe’s only rare earths processing plant, as well as the entities that control the plant and their current and historical ties to the Chinese market, the PRC party-state, the People’s Liberation Army, and China’s defence sector.

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