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Myanmar and the Growing Influence of China — Myanmar and the Growing Influence of China

This issue brief by Sanjay Pulipaka examines China’s influence operations in Myanmar, focusing on the tools and strategies Beijing employs to advance its political, security, and economic interests. It argues that China’s approach is multifaceted, encompassing engagement with ethnic armed organizations (EAOs), weapons transfers, mediation and ceasefire facilitation, diplomatic support for the Myanmar military, and extensive economic engagement. China has sought to balance its relationships with the military and EAOs while using its influence to protect its strategic interests, particularly along the China-Myanmar border and in major infrastructure and resource projects, argues Pulipaka. Its diplomatic support has provided the Myanmar military with important international backing, while economic ties have deepened China’s presence in Myanmar’s political and economic spheres. The case demonstrates that influence operations can remain contested despite significant power asymmetries. Ultimately, China’s preference for stability has not necessarily translated into support for durable peace or democratic governance, writes the author. Read this brief written by Sanjay Pulipaka here.

The Tibet-Nepal Flood Is a Himalayan Climate Security Warning — The Tibet-Nepal Flood Is a Himalayan Climate Security Warning

The catastrophic flash flood that struck the Tibet-Nepal border on August 26 should not be treated simply as another Himalayan natural disaster. Saroj Kumar Aryal and Jagannath Panda write in The Diplomat that the tragedy was not simply a conventional flood produced by excessive rainfall. Nor does the evidence currently justify describing it straightforwardly as an earthquake-triggered disaster. It was a cascading high-mountain event in which ice, rock, gravity, water and steep topography combined, argue Aryal and Panda. The narrow Himalayan valleys then acted as conduits for an exceptionally fast-moving mixture of water, sediment and boulders. The authors further raise two questions that should extend well beyond the disaster's immediate aftermath: How safe is the accelerating infrastructure expansion across Tibet when the geological and cryospheric foundations of the plateau are becoming increasingly unstable? And when environmental disturbances originating in Tibet can rapidly become disasters in Nepal and other downstream states, should Tibet’s climate crisis continue to be treated primarily as China’s domestic environmental concern? Read this piece in The Diplomat.

India’s Space Sector: A Launchpad for Global Partnerships — India’s Space Sector: A Launchpad for Global Partnerships

Ambassador Gurjit Singh writes that India is positioned to play a larger role in shaping the governance of outer space. Orbital congestion, space debris, responsible resource utilization, and equitable access to emerging space opportunities are becoming pressing international concerns. As space activities expand, there will be an increasing need for countries capable of building consensus on responsible norms and practices, writes Amb. Singh. He further writes that India’s long-standing commitment to the peaceful uses of outer space, combined with its growing technological capabilities, equips it to contribute meaningfully to the development of rules that promote transparency, sustainability, and equitable access. Read this piece here.

The Geopolitics of Green Hydrogen in the Southern Cone — The Geopolitics of Green Hydrogen in the Southern Cone

Gustavo A. Cardozo writes that Argentina and Brazil risk becoming locked into China-led green hydrogen technologies, financing structures, and certification standards before developing robust domestic regulatory frameworks. China’s early-mover advantage, particularly in electrolyser manufacturing and infrastructure financing, makes its involvement commercially attractive but could create long-term technological and regulatory dependencies. The author contrasts this trajectory with Chile’s more standards-driven approach, designed around compatibility with European markets. The central argument is that Argentina and Brazil must urgently establish certification interoperability, particularly with EU requirements, to preserve market access and economic sovereignty. COP30 offers Brazil a critical opportunity to advance such a regional framework. Read this piece by Gustavo A. Cardozo here.

CPEC and China’s Strategic Web: Power, Connectivity, and Control in Pakistan and Beyond — CPEC and China’s Strategic Web: Power, Connectivity, and Control in Pakistan and Beyond

This Stockholm Paper, "CPEC and China’s Strategic Web: Power, Connectivity, and Control in Pakistan and Beyond," marks the first publication under the Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs (SCSA-IPA) flagship research project, The Silk Noose: China’s Power Architecture in South Asia and the Indian Ocean Region. The study examines how the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the flagship project of China’s BRI, has evolved beyond a connectivity and infrastructure initiative into a multidimensional instrument of strategic influence, political leverage, and regional power projection. The central argument running throughout this volume is that CPEC should no longer be viewed solely as an economic corridor. Rather, it represents a broader strategic architecture through which China seeks to shape regional connectivity, deepen political influence, expand security partnerships, and advance its vision of regional order. Download and read this Stockholm paper here.

The Chechen Choice: The Price of Personalized Rule in Modern Russia — The Chechen Choice: The Price of Personalized Rule in Modern Russia

Christopher Peterstam writes about the future political process in Chechnya. He writes that Chechnya, known just as much for its open defiance of Moscow as for its towering mountain ranges, is once again caught at a political crossroads. With frequent reports of its leader, Ramzan Kadyrov’s deteriorating health, speculation remains rife as to what path the autonomous republic of the Russian Federation will take. Not wanting a repeat of the violence of the 1990s, Moscow undoubtedly views a smooth transfer of power as being of the utmost importance. However, as the region operates not through institutional frameworks, but instead based on personal relationships and force of personality, appointing a successor may prove to be more challenging than observers may think. This then poses a danger to the unity of the Russian Federation, as well as to the broader Transcaucasian region, should political instability once more affect the Chechen Republic, argues Peterstam. Read this brief here.

From Military Dominance to Military-Civil Fusion: China’s National Defence in the Semiconductor Industry — From Military Dominance to Military-Civil Fusion: China’s National Defence in the Semiconductor Industry

Yifei Zhu in this brief analyses the role of China’s defence establishment in the country’s semiconductor development: its significance to the industry relative to civilian actors, its strategic orientation and posture toward semiconductors, and the decision-making and implementation system through which this role is exercised. While the analysis traces how these dimensions have evolved across different periods, it places particular emphasis on the present. The author argues that understanding how China links defence to semiconductors is directly relevant to European debates on a range of critical issues the continent is faced with: economic and technological competitiveness, supply chain resilience, a renewed arms race, and not to mention Europe’s strategic dilemma posed by China. Read this brief published in The EuroHub4Sino here.

The Mecca Pact and Beijing’s Multipolarity Trap: Why China Should Worry About a Deal It Appears to Welcome — The Mecca Pact and Beijing’s Multipolarity Trap: Why China Should Worry About a Deal It Appears to Welcome

This piece by Jagannath Panda in The Cairo Review of Global Affairs analyses two critical questions on the Mecca pact: does a pact that visibly weakens Washington’s hold on Gulf security automatically serve Chinese interests, or does it merely flatter Chinese vanity? And can Beijing live with a multipolar regional environment it did not design, does not lead, and cannot steer, especially when that world is taking shape on its own western flank, among nations whose religious identity touches China’s rawest domestic nerve? The author argues that in the short run, the answers please Beijing; but in the long run, they should trouble it deeply. The Mecca Pact is not the strategic gift to China that surface analysis may suggest. It may, in fact, be one of the more quietly damaging developments Beijing has faced in a decade of otherwise favorable drift in the Middle East, writes Panda. Read this piece in The Cairo Review of Global Affairs here.

Webinar Report: LGBTQ+ in South Korea and Learning Opportunities from Taiwan — Webinar Report: LGBTQ+ in South Korea and Learning Opportunities from Taiwan

The Stockholm Korea and Taiwan Centers of the Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP), alongside Macoll Consulting Group, held a one-hour webinar in celebration of Pride Month on June 9, 2026, during which LGBTQ+ rights in South Korea and Taiwan were discussed. Horim Yi, Co-Executive Director of Rainbow Action Korea and Executive Director of Marriage for All Korea, and Joyce Teng, Board Member of ILGA Asia (the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association – Asia), were our two speakers, with Macoll’s Senior Associate Jayoung Son as the keynote speaker and ISDP’s Josephine Ørgaard Rasmussen, Korea Center project manager, serving as the moderator. The webinar’s objective was to identify tangible policy proposals for how to promote the rights of LGBTQ+ people in South Korea while comparing the existing political and legislative landscapes in Taiwan, intending to lay the groundwork for collaboration in the pursuit of promoting LGBTQ+ rights. Read the report of this webinar discussion here.

Events »

31 Aug

Silk Cage Series – Webinar VI: Ports, Power, and Political Access: China’s Strategic Grip over Sri Lanka
3 Sep

Hai-Eu Dialogue Series – Part I: Institutional Opening Up: Advancing Free Trade Port Governance and Connectivity
21 Sep

Research and Innovation Series (RIS) – Part X: Reframing Research Security for the Future of International Science and Technology Collaboration
22 Sep

Will China deliver? China’s next decade and the consequences for Europe: Final Conference – EuroHub4Sino
Brussels

Publications »

The Tibet-Nepal Flood Is a Himalayan Climate Security Warning

Saroj Kumar Aryal and Jagannath Panda

Myanmar and the Growing Influence of China

Sanjay Pulipaka

CPEC and China’s Strategic Web: Power, Connectivity, and Control in Pakistan and Beyond

Jagannath Panda, John S. Van Oudenaren, Jiayi Zhou, Scott N. Romaniuk, Niklas Swanström, Anne Weiler, Sevil Khikmatova, Tristan Eng, Sriparna Pathak, Ajay Darshan Behera, Seong Hyeon Choi, Ratish Mehta, Brendon J. Cannon and Aadil Brar

The Chechen Choice: The Price of Personalized Rule in Modern Russia

Christopher Peterstam

From Military Dominance to Military-Civil Fusion: China’s National Defence in the Semiconductor Industry

The Mecca Pact and Beijing’s Multipolarity Trap: Why China Should Worry About a Deal It Appears to Welcome

Jagannath Panda

ISDP Spotlight

ISDP’s Stockholm Korea Center welcomed a delegation from the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA) for a roundtable discussion focused on Sweden’s military management framework — ISDP’s Stockholm Korea Center welcomed a delegation from the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA) for a roundtable discussion focused on Sweden’s military management framework

ISDP’s Stockholm Korea Center welcomed a delegation from the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA) for an engaging three-hour roundtable discussion focused on Sweden’s military management framework, as part of a broader research initiative to gather insights and best practices from European allies regarding the modernization of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces.

ISDP Co-hosted the ICES Inaugural Annual Conference in Brussels — ISDP Co-hosted the ICES Inaugural Annual Conference in Brussels

On 10 and 11 June, ISDP participated in the inaugural Annual Conference of the Institute for China-Europe Studies (ICES) in Brussels. Convened by ICES and co-hosted by ISDP and two other partners, the conference brought together leading diplomats, academics, and researchers for critical dialogues on EU-China relations amid great power competition and global order reconfiguration.

Trends in China-India Relations: The Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs hosted a panel discussion with Dr. Ivan Lidarev and Dr. Abhishek Pratap Singh — Trends in China-India Relations: The Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs hosted a panel discussion with Dr. Ivan Lidarev and Dr. Abhishek Pratap Singh

On June 8, 2026, the Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs at the Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP) hosted a panel discussion with Dr. Ivan Lidarev, a research fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) at the National University of Singapore (NUS), and Dr. Abhishek Pratap Singh from the University of Delhi. The panel discussion was moderated by Dr. Jagannath Panda, the Head of the Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs at ISDP.

Looking back at Professor Ryosei Kokubun’s visit to Stockholm — Looking back at Professor Ryosei Kokubun’s visit to Stockholm

ISDP had the great pleasure of welcoming Professor Ryosei Kokubun, Non-Resident Distinguished Fellow, to Stockholm last week. During this stay, ISDP arranged a roundtable discussion on “Managing Sino-Japanese ties in the contemporary East Asian context” during which he presented future perspectives of the geopolitical balance in the East Asia region, highlighting the complex relations between China and Japan.

Roundtable with Dr. Shan-Jan Sarah Liu: Taiwanese Women’s Experiences in Taiwan’s Military — Roundtable with Dr. Shan-Jan Sarah Liu: Taiwanese Women’s Experiences in Taiwan’s Military

On June 4th, the Stockholm Taiwan Center had the pleasure of hosting a roundtable discussion with Dr. Shan-Jan Sarah Liu. The roundtable discussion was moderated by Yi-Chieh Chen. Dr. Shan-Jan Sarah Liu is Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Gender and Politics at the School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh. The discussion explored Dr. Liu’s findings from her research on Taiwanese women’s experiences in the military and was joined by ISDP research staff and experts from Stockholm’s academic community.

Niklas Swanström and Jagannath Panda participated in the 11th Ulaanbaatar Dialogue (UBD) International Conference — Niklas Swanström and Jagannath Panda participated in the 11th Ulaanbaatar Dialogue (UBD) International Conference

ISDP, represented by Dr. Niklas Swanström and Dr. Jagannath Panda, participated in the 11th Ulaanbaatar Dialogue (UBD) International Conference held in Ulaanbaatar. The Dialogue focused on critical themes such as security challenges and opportunities for peace in Northeast Asia, preventive diplomacy and mediation pathways, artificial intelligence and emerging security risks, regional connectivity between Northeast and Central Asia, and green power corridors linking the two regions.