Informing National Security Strategy
THE LATEST
What the PLA Air Force Says About Itself
This report from Kenneth W. Allen and Brian Lafferty highlights what the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force is saying to the international community about itself. It is based on a review of all the 2018-2023 articles about the PLAAF that were published on the China Military Online website,…
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The Last Minarets of Yunnan
The Chinese government's plan to demolish the dome and minarets of a mosque in Yunnan Province reveals the uncompromising nationalist tenor of Xi Jinping's rule. Xi's desire to Sinicize socialism and yoke China's modern history to Han identity effectively marginalizes ethno-religious minorities such as Hui…
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Current Overview of the PLA Air Force’s Organizational Structure
This report from Kenneth W. Allen provides an overview of reforms in China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) organizational structure from 2016 through 2022. It is an updated version of the author’s previous work on PLAAF organizational structure, and most of the new information…
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FEATURED
RESEARCH & ANALYSIS
This report from Kenneth W. Allen and Brian Lafferty highlights what the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force is saying to the international community about itself. It is based on a review of all the 2018-2023 articles about the PLAAF that were published on the China Military Online website,…
Executive Summary: Rwanda represents a pivotal nexus for China’s strategic ambitions in Africa. While possessing limited natural resources, Rwanda’s East African location, young and growing population, and greenfield development opportunities for Chinese technology firms combine to make it an effective gateway for Chinese technological, economic,…
Studies of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)’s role in the Iranian economy often focus on its illicit activity, like smuggling, or its involvement in construction and the media. These studies overlook the IRGC’s involvement in a sector crucial for meeting the IRGC’s growing need…
Journalists and human rights activists have highlighted that the Iranian government is using foreign facial recognition technology to enforce hijab laws and arrest protestors. The government has not acquired this technology from Chinese companies like Tiandy and Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co. alone, however– it also…
CHINA
Exovera/CIRA, in collaboration with Makwa Global, supported the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) response to their task outlined in Section 9414 of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA 2021) to conduct a study and provide recommendations with respect to the effect of…
As the CCP cracks down on speech in Hong Kong and conducts high-profile arrests of local democracy activists, CIRA has released a new report entitled TRAMPLED ORCHID that seeks to understand the implications of Hong Kong's draconian yet vague new National Security Law for local…
CIRA analyst Maggie Baughman's work below was the winner of the recent Rhodium ChinaTalk essay contest. Ms. Baughman also discussed her research on the most recent episode of the ChinaTalk podcast. Almost two decades after China began marshaling its "fifty-cent army" to manipulate public conversation…
While the American public became more aware of Chinese cyber influence campaigns during the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak, they did not start there – and they will not end there, either. As the world’s attention returns to the origins of the global pandemic and recommits to its containment, the United…
IRAN
Studies of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)’s role in the Iranian economy often focus on its illicit activity, like smuggling, or its involvement in construction and the media. These studies overlook the IRGC’s involvement in a sector crucial for meeting the IRGC’s growing need…
Journalists and human rights activists have highlighted that the Iranian government is using foreign facial recognition technology to enforce hijab laws and arrest protestors. The government has not acquired this technology from Chinese companies like Tiandy and Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co. alone, however– it also…
While the Islamic Republic has drawn international condemnation for restricting Iranians’ access to major portions of the international internet, key government and private-sector websites have quietly been made unavailable to those outside of Iran (so-called “geo-blocking”). This development makes it more difficult for journalists, human…
Coverage regarding Iran’s growing exports of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including those recently sent to Russia for use in Ukraine, have generally focused on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The IRGC, an unconventional force, is known for its support for militants and non-state actors…
RUSSIA
CIRA Russia analyst Jonathan Brunson writes in the Daily Beast: Amid the tumult surrounding impeachment proceedings against U.S. President Donald J. Trump, which center on his actions with regard to Ukraine, an unnoticed headline is what’s happening to Ukraine’s own President Volodymyr Zelensky. He’s seen…
CIRA Russia analyst Jonathan Brunson writes in Slate: The potential for another Ukrainian revolution festers beneath this year’s deceptively calm presidential and parliamentary elections. It would be the third one in 15 years, following the 2004 Orange Revolution and the 2014 Euro-Maidan uprising. In April,…
A report co-authored by CIRAs's Kieran Green explores the current military cyber structures and operations of China and Russia in order to postulate how both countries could conduct cyber operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, and their motivations for doing so. The report looks…
