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Afghanistan in China’s Extended CPEC 2.0 Strategy — Afghanistan in China’s Extended CPEC 2.0 Strategy

The May 2025 trilateral agreement between China, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, formalizing the extension of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) into Afghan territory, marked what Beijing celebrated as a turning point in Central and South Asian geopolitics. Within five months, however, Pakistan and Afghanistan were exchanging artillery fire and airstrikes across their contested border. This policy brief by Ratish Mehta argues that Beijing’s reliance on economic statecraft as its primary instrument of regional engagement has proven insufficient for the political complexity it confronts. Beijing’s trilateral diplomacy produced agreements on paper while leaving untouched the ideological-military nexus that makes the Af-Pak border one of the most volatile frontiers in Asia, writes Mehta. Read and download this policy brief here.

The Hubris of the High-End: Why the West is Failing the Shahed Test — The Hubris of the High-End: Why the West is Failing the Shahed Test

Bastian Szepanski writes why the Western players must undergo a radical unlearning of their superpower status. He argues that the U.S. military-industrial complex is structurally geared toward the high-end, with procurement cycles measured in decades and budgets dominated by a handful of billion-dollar platforms. This structural bias has created a force that spends less than 0.5 percent of its defense budget on procuring ”precise mass” capabilities like loitering munitions. The result is a dangerous mismatch between threat and defense. Szepanski further writes that while adversaries like Iran and Russia focus on an industrial revolution of “precise mass”, fielding $30,000 Shahed drones that deliver strategic effects at an attritional scale, the United States remains anchored to a high-reliability, multi-million-dollar interceptor paradigm. Read this piece here.

What K-pop can teach about defense cooperation — What K-pop can teach about defense cooperation

In-bum Chun, a distinguished military fellow of the ISDP, writes that in Stockholm, creativity travels quietly. You will not see crowds gathering outside anonymous studios, yet inside them, Swedish songwriters have helped shape one of the most globally dominant cultural phenomena of the 21st century: K-pop. He further writes that the faces are Korean, the language is Korean, but much of the melodic architecture, the hooks, the rhythm, and the structure originates in Sweden. That same model of specialization, trust, and integration offers a useful analogy for how South Korea, Sweden, NATO, and the United States should think about defense cooperation in an era defined not by mass, but by complexity, writes Gen. Chun. Read this piece in UPI.com here.

Trump and Xi are playing cards. US and China do not want direct conflict, but will not back down. Andrej Matišák interviews Jagannath Panda in Pravda Daily — Trump and Xi are playing cards. US and China do not want direct conflict, but will not back down. Andrej Matišák interviews Jagannath Panda in Pravda Daily

Ahead of the crucial Donald Trump and Xi Jinping meeting, Andrej Matišák interviews Jagannath Panda for Pravda Daily. Panda says that the forthcoming engagement with Xi Jinping is less about conventional diplomacy and more about strategic bargaining shaped by trade, technology, and geopolitical leverage. Washington’s primary objective is to stabilize competition without surrendering strategic advantage. The United States increasingly views China not merely as a commercial rival but as a systemic challenger capable of reshaping global technology, supply chains, artificial intelligence, maritime security, and even international institutions, said Trump. He further says that Trump would likely seek tactical gains on tariffs, industrial overcapacity, fentanyl flows, and supply-chain dependence while simultaneously projecting American strength to domestic audiences and allies. Read the full interview here.

India-Sweden Strategic Compass: a bi-monthly newsletter, Vol.5, No.2, March-April 2026. — India-Sweden Strategic Compass: a bi-monthly newsletter, Vol.5, No.2, March-April 2026.

The latest issue of India-Sweden Strategic Compass, a bi-monthly newsletter of the Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs, is out. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to Sweden marks an important step in strengthening the already cordial ties between India and Sweden. This visit is likely to deepen collaboration in sectors such as green technology, defense manufacturing, and digital transformation. Swedish companies have shown increasing interest in India’s growing market, while India benefits from Sweden’s expertise in research and innovation. Initiatives like joint research programs and startup partnerships can further boost economic engagement. Read the latest developments in India-Sweden, India-Nordic, and India-EU ties in this latest issue here.

Caution at the Crossroads: How China Positions Itself in Taliban-Ruled Afghanistan without Going All In — Caution at the Crossroads: How China Positions Itself in Taliban-Ruled Afghanistan without Going All In

This issue brief by Adil Brar examines China’s engagement with Taliban-ruled Afghanistan since August 2021 through four linked dimensions: connectivity and Belt and Road Initiative planning, diplomatic normalization, economic engagement in energy and minerals, and the security calculus linking Xinjiang, Pakistan, and Central Asia. The author argues that Beijing’s strategy is best understood as incremental positioning rather than rapid transformation—locking in option-value positions in resources and infrastructure while avoiding high sunk costs or formal recognition. Recent developments, including attacks on Chinese nationals in Kabul and worsening Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions, suggest China is entering a phase of long-term strategic caution: maintaining diplomatic engagement and border security infrastructure while limiting physical commercial exposure, writes Brar.

Recasting order in the Indo‑Pacific: Europe, Asia, and the future of the Liberal International Order — Recasting order in the Indo‑Pacific: Europe, Asia, and the future of the Liberal International Order

The Liberal International Order (LIO) is increasingly under threat—not only from revisionist and authoritarian states like China and Russia but also from within the USA itself. Unlike his predecessors, who recognized significant benefits for the USA in upholding and defending the rules-based order globally and in the Indo-Pacific, President Donald Trump views the existing LIO as detrimental to American interests. This special issue in the Asia Europe Journal, edited by Jagannath Panda and Alfred Gerstle, brings together scholars in Europe and the Indo-Pacific to examine the mounting challenges facing the LIO in the Indo-Pacific. Crucially, the contributions highlight that there has never been a shared consensus on what the LIO—or more neutrally: the rules-based order—entails, but a fragile coexistence of visions. Read the introduction of this special issue here.

Report of the Silk Cage Webinar-IV: Corridors of Influence? The China–Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor and Beijing’s Expanding Power Architecture — Report of the Silk Cage Webinar-IV: Corridors of Influence? The China–Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor and Beijing’s Expanding Power Architecture

This webinar report, the fourth in the Silk Cage Series, moves beyond South Asia to examine how China’s continental corridors interface with maritime strategy, influence operations, and broader geopolitical contestation. It situates the China–Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor (CICPEC) within a wider strategic arc linking the South China Sea to the Bay of Bengal and further into the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). As part of the Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs (SCSA-IPA) project, “The Silk Noose: China’s Power Architecture in South Asia and the Indian Ocean Region,” the discussion explored how China is constructing not only economic corridors, but an interlinked power architecture stretching from continental Southeast Asia into the Indian Ocean. Within this framework, South Asia represents a central theater of this evolving system, while CICPEC illustrates how adjacent regions reinforce, extend, and sustain it. Read and download the webinar report here.

Events »

20 May

Research and Innovation Series (RIS) – Part VII: Canada’s Approach to Research and Innovation Security
10 Jun

ICES Annual Conference: EU-China Relations in an Era of Great Power Competition and Global Order Reconfiguration
Bruxelles

Publications »

Afghanistan in China’s Extended CPEC 2.0 Strategy

What K-pop can teach about defense cooperation

Trump and Xi are playing cards. US and China do not want direct conflict, but will not back down. Andrej Matišák interviews Jagannath Panda in Pravda Daily

Jagannath Panda

India-Sweden Strategic Compass: a bi-monthly newsletter, Vol.5, No.2, March-April 2026.

Anne Weiler, Sevil Khikmatova and Jagannath Panda

Caution at the Crossroads: How China Positions Itself in Taliban-Ruled Afghanistan without Going All In

Recasting order in the Indo‑Pacific: Europe, Asia, and the future of the Liberal International Order

Jagannath Panda and Alfred Gerstl

ISDP Spotlight

Polish Perspectives on Research and Innovation Security: ISDP welcomed Marcin Grabowski for a roundtable discussion — Polish Perspectives on Research and Innovation Security: ISDP welcomed Marcin Grabowski for a roundtable discussion

The ISDP team had the pleasure of hosting a roundtable discussion with Dr. Marcin Grabowski, Associated Senior Research Fellow with ISDP’s Stockholm Center for Research and Innovation Security (SCRIS). Marcin Grabowski presented current challenges concerning research and innovation security in Poland as well as core findings from “The Research and Education Security Report”.

Looking back at the Korea Foundation Guest Researcher Lieutenant General (ret.) Chun In-Bum’s stay in Stockholm — Looking back at the Korea Foundation Guest Researcher Lieutenant General (ret.) Chun In-Bum’s stay in Stockholm

During his stay at ISDP as a guest researcher (April 4th – May 10th), Lieutenant General (Ret.) In-bum Chun, a three-star general of the Republic of Korea Army, engaged in a series of high-level exchanges across Stockholm, all around his research into how middle powers adapt their defense postures to shifting security environments, with a focus on cognitive warfare, critical maritime infrastructure, and alliance adaptation.

Jagannath Panda spoke at a conference in Kyiv organized by he Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian Prism” and the Representative Office of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Ukraine — Jagannath Panda spoke at a conference in Kyiv organized by he Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian Prism” and the Representative Office of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Ukraine

Dr. Jagannath Panda, Head of the Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs, visited Kyiv in Ukraine and spoke at a conference titled “From Diplomacy of Resistance to Diplomacy of Action” organized by the Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian Prism” along with the Representative Office of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Ukraine. This conference was held on April 28, 2026, with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation.

ISDP signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR) — ISDP signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR)

On April 22, building on a close relationship established in 2019, ISDP signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR). This MoU marks an important step in further enhancing collaboration and knowledge exchange between the two institutions.

The Taiwan-Nordic Forum 2026 Emphasizes Resilience Through Cooperation as Central to Defense — The Taiwan-Nordic Forum 2026 Emphasizes Resilience Through Cooperation as Central to Defense

The Taiwan-Nordic Forum 2026, titled Resilience as Defense, was held on April 15, 2026, in Stockholm and called for closer cooperation, deeper knowledge sharing, and strengthened joint expertise between Taiwan and the Nordic and Baltic countries to meet emerging challenges together.