Will Wagner Group Activities in Africa Lead to Jihadi Attacks in Russia?

 War on the Rocks published on 23 June 2023 an analysis titled "Jihadi Blowback: The Wagner Group's Hidden Downside" by Raphael Parens, Eurasia Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.  

Jihadis in Africa increasingly see the Wagner Group and, by extension, Russia as the enemy.  The Wagner Group may be sowing future jihadist activity on Russian soil because of its attacks on Sunni Muslims in Africa.  

China's Belt and Road Initiative: Implications for Security Policy

The Diplomat published on 17 October 2016 an analysis titled "Is the Belt and Road Initiative Globalizing China's National Security Policy?" by Sabine Mokry, research associate at the Mercator Institute for China Studies.

Although the analysis is focused on Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East, it also has implications for Africa. The author concludes that China's One Belt, One Road has important long-term internal effects on the development of China's global security posture. It helps to channel and focus domestic security debates by providing a reference point and creating a context for concrete policy actions.

China and the Developing World

The Robert Strauss Center and the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Texas in Austin hosted on 24 February 2016 an hour and a half panel session on "China and the Developing World," which is available on youtube. The participants were Suisheng Zhao, University of Denver's Josef Korbel School of International Studies, Nadege Rolland, National Bureau of Asian Research, Louisa Greve, National Endowment for Democracy, and myself. 

The focus was on the One Belt, One Road and China-Africa relations.  A brief written synopsis of the panel session is also available. 

China's Silk Road to Where?

The Diplomat published on 17 February 2015 an analysis titled "China's 'One Belt, One Road' To Where?" by Lucio Blanco Pitlo III, a member of the Philippine Association for China Studies.

Acknowledging that details are still sketchy, the author argues that the Silk Road Economic Belt and the Maritime Silk Road have strategic, political, and security implications that participating countries should consider.  He urged China to address the persistent notion that the Silk Road is too China-centric and that other participating states will reap only marginal benefits. 

China's New Silk Road

The National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) published on 12 February 2015 an excellent commentary titled "China's New Silk Road" by Nadege Rolland, senior project director for political and security affairs at NBR. 

The author argues that the Silk Road economic belt aims to integrate China's neighbors more closely with the Chinese economy, enmeshing them in a network of trade ties, transportation links, and multilateral institutions that will have China at their center, enhancing Beijing's influence over the weaker, poorer nations that surround it.