No. 4
27/10/2026 · 8 pieces
8 picks from 587 pieces reviewed in 16 publications across 4 regions.
You have read everything here.
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01 ★★★★★
“Secure and controllable”: How Beijing is writing Europe out of its systems
Is China quietly removing European technology from its own infrastructure? Janka Oertel draws on more than 1,600 Chinese procurement documents to trace how, and how far. Read it to understand a strategy that has run for a decade, and why it changes what reciprocity should mean for Europe. We picked it for documentary evidence behind a claim usually made on instinct. Oertel writes for ECFR, a European foreign-policy think tank; we found no stake.
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02 ★★★★★
China’s Strategic Reassessment of India
How does Beijing now see India? Yun Sun draws on ten research trips to China and many exchanges with Chinese experts, quoting their debate in its own terms. Read it for a rare view of Chinese strategic thinking from the inside, and what it means for US policy. We picked it as field research on a relationship that most Western writing views from Washington or Delhi. Sun writes for War on the Rocks, a site on strategy and security; we found no stake.
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03 ★★★★☆
Marching into the Duma: The cost of Putin’s push for war veterans in parliament
Did Putin's war veterans win their way into Russia's parliament? Mikhail Komin reads beneath the official election results to test the Kremlin's story of a new elite forged at the front. Read it to see what the numbers suggest about the vote, and about how Russians view returning soldiers. We picked it for careful data work on an election usually dismissed as theatre. Komin writes for ECFR, a European foreign-policy think tank; we found no stake.
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04 ★★★★☆
The Christian genesis of North Korea’s personality cult
Where did North Korea's personality cult come from? Jonathan Cheng looks beyond the Soviet model to an unexpected source in Kim Il Sung's own upbringing. Read it for a fresh explanation of why the Kim cult outgrew those of Stalin and Mao, with a remarkable cast of characters. We picked it as history that changes how a familiar regime looks. Cheng writes for Engelsberg Ideas, an essay magazine published by a Swedish foundation; we found no stake.
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05 ★★★★☆
How Sudan Became a Laboratory for Drone Warfare, Thanks to Abu Dhabi
How did Sudan's war become a testing ground for drones, and who supplies them? Yasir Zaidan went back to Khartoum, where Zaidan grew up, for the first time since the war began, and traces the shift to long-range strikes. Read it for a view of the war from the ground, and for an argument about foreign responsibility. We picked it for first-hand reporting from a war that gets little coverage. Zaidan writes for War on the Rocks; the piece argues openly that the UAE prolongs the war, and we found no stake.
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06 ★★★★☆
Hezbollah’s Venezuelan money machine
How did Venezuela become a financial base for Hezbollah, and what remains of it now? Magnus Ranstorp traces two decades of drug money, gold and sanctions evasion linking Caracas, Hezbollah and Iran. Read it to understand a network usually glimpsed only in court cases. We picked it for an expert's long view of a story that rarely joins up. Ranstorp advised Argentine court investigators on the 1992 bombing of Israel's embassy in Buenos Aires; we found no stake.
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07 ★★★★☆
The other face of the Chinese miracle is in Hunan
Original title: L’autre visage du miracle chinois est dans le Hunan
What can one railway city in Hunan tell us about China? Ruohan Xie's report follows Zhuzhou's factories from the Soviet-assisted industry of the 1950s to today. Read it for China seen from a province rather than from Beijing and Shanghai, with history that explains the present. We picked it as rare field reporting from inside China's industrial heartland. Xie writes for Le Grand Continent, a French review of European geopolitics; we found no stake. In French.
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08 ★★★★☆
The End of Primacy Without Pain: Why the Domestic Foundation of American Power Is Crumbling
Why does American foreign policy keep lurching between extremes? Stephen Wertheim argues the answer lies at home, in a widening gap between what foreign-policy elites want and what voters will pay for. Read it for a long, demanding argument that rewards a slow read. We picked it because it explains a pattern rather than a single decision. Wertheim writes for the Carnegie Endowment and argues for US restraint, a position stated openly; we found no other stake.
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