Elena Cossu
China has delivered vaccines to Latin America on an extraordinary scale. We must understand this in the context of China’s long-term aspirations as a rising power in the international order. Elena Cossu argues that Chinese vaccine diplomacy directly challenges the already declining US authority in the region Read more
Carl Henrik Knutsen
Even today, there is no consensus on whether democracies or autocracies are better at generating economic development. Yet, writes Carl Henrik Knutsen, the best recent evidence indicates that democracies do, on average, promote higher growth Read more
Samuel Brazys
China seeks to control the international narrative on its role in the pandemic. But while Beijing cannot always deflect criticism, its mask diplomacy efforts and external propaganda streams do affect China’s image, write Samuel Brazys, Alexander Dukalskis and Stefan Müller Read more
Alexander Dukalskis
Authoritarian states deliberately use a number of tools to manage their image internationally, writes Alexander Dukalskis. Creating positive news, distracting and silencing critique, and shaping elite opinion help make the world safer for dictatorships Read more
Ruairidh Brown
Too close an association between the BBC and the Union flag will damage the former’s claims to objectivity, writes Ruairidh Brown. It comes at a time when the impartiality of the service is increasingly challenged – at home and abroad Read more
Stefano Ruzza
What does the recent military coup tell us about the prospects for Myanmar’s regime? Stefano Ruzza argues that while the country's semi-democracy is not dead, it is unlikely ever to escape occasional authoritarian interventions Read more
Ruairidh Brown
An absence of ideological universalism means that China-US relations have so far managed to escape a Cold War situation, writes Ruairidh Brown. With Biden’s promise of a value-centred American Foreign Policy, this could be about to change Read more
Veronica Anghel
Under the Biden administration, the EU stands to have an ally against authoritarian tendencies in some Central and Eastern European countries writes Veronica Anghel. But US involvement will not be transformative Read more
