Rwanda—the small, landlocked country in East Africa known colloquially as the “land of a thousand hills”—has arguably gained outsized influence in Africa in recent years. Previously known most prominently for the horrors enacted against ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus...

Introduction Historically, Russia has done everything it can to keep countries that were formerly part of the Soviet Union in its so-called “sphere of influence” as far from the West’s orbit as possible. However, in recent years, some of...

G7 and BRICS The G7, led by the United States in the Global North, and BRICS, led by China in the Global South, are each working diligently to control the rules-based international order. To better understand this competition, it...

In October 2022, the Biden administration introduced export controls to limit China’s access to advanced US semiconductors and technologies, aiming to maintain US technological superiority and address security concerns. These controls, targeting areas such as advanced chips and supercomputer...

Since its creation in 1955, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has dominated the Japanese Diet, or parliament, winning a majority in almost every election. However, its grip on the Diet is loosening, as shown by the loss of three...

On October 17, 2022, at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, President Xi Jinping called for a nationwide effort to “win the battle” in core technologies. The urgency was reflected in the 20th Party Congress report,...

Lifting the Eight-Year Curse and the Opinion of the Taiwanese Since the first democratic elections were held in 1996, no political party has ever won the Taiwanese presidential election more than two consecutive times until now, with the Democratic...

Equatorial Guinea is a country that was freed from colonial rule but never truly escaped the influence of the economic superpowers in a globalized world. When Spain granted independence to the Republic of Equatorial Guinea in 1968, Francis Macias...

Background For the eighth year in a row, the Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report labeled Libya as a Special Case country. Typically, the Department of State gives a country a score from one to three based on...

The United States has led the international economic order for the last seventy-eight years, with only the Soviet Union posing a serious challenge. However, China is starting to pose a severe threat to the United States by trying to...