Meisel, C., Lin, B., Greitens, S.C., & Shugart, T. (2024, July 24). In brief: China’s third plenum. War on the Rocks. https://warontherocks.com/2024/ 07/in-brief-chinas-third-plenum

Last week, the Chinese Communist Party held its third plenum, a closed door meeting of high-level party officials that has historically indicated the country’s policy direction on major issues, such as the economy. This was the first third plenum held since 2018 and was hotly anticipated, especially considering China’s faltering economic growth. We asked four experts to tell us more about the outcomes of the meeting and what this might indicate about China’s strategy in the coming months and years.

Sweijs, T., & Michaels, J. (2024, July). "Forecasting the future of war" in Beyond Ukraine: Debating the future of war. (pp. 287–303). Oxford University Press.

Meisel, C., Studeman, M., Sun, Y., & Daniels, R. (2024, May 8). In brief: U.S-Chinese relationship. War on the Rocks. https://warontherocks.com/2024/05/in-brief-the-u-s-chinese-relationship/

Meisel, C. (2024, April 9). Opinion: There is more to NATO burden sharing than the 2% spending dogma. Defense News. https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/2024/04/09/there-is-more-to-nato-burden-sharing-than-the-2-spending-dogma

As the NATO alliance prepares to gather this summer to celebrate its 75th birthday, rhetoric around “burden sharing” – specifically whether member countries are paying enough, where “enough” is typically defined as military spending equal to 2% of GDP – is likely to heat up. With a war raging just off NATO’s eastern flank as Ukraine defends itself against an aggressor that has become NATO’s raison d’etre, it’s a fair question: Are NATO member countries doing enough?

Meisel, C. (2024, February 20). Accelerating Change But Not Necessarily an Inflection Point. Stimson. https://www.stimson.org/2024/accelerating-change-but-not-necessarily-an-inflection-point/

Today’s world is characterized by enormous change — but also tremendous continuity. By overemphasizing the former at the expense of the latter, policymakers risk underestimating the applicability of past lessons to today’s challenges. They also risk “inflection-point fatigue,” where assertions that “this time it is different” are ignored when “this time” it actually is different. For the term “inflection point” to meaningfully inform strategic planning efforts, decision-makers need to be clear about what does and does not qualify as such, and assess situations accordingly.

Moyer, J. D. (2024, February 16). A double-edged sword into a plowshare: Analyzing geopolitical implications of alternative socioeconomic development pathways. One Earth. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2024.01.002

The summary discusses global challenges to sustainable development, emphasizing the need to balance human development, climate change, and geopolitics. It focuses on the shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs),which are scenarios used in climate research to address adaptation and mitigation challenges. Using the International Futures model, the study examines the implications of alternative socioeconomic development on the future distribution of national power and international relations. The findings suggest that a sustainable development pathway may lead to geopolitical destabilization, causing transitions in regional and global power. The paper highlights the importance of integrating international relations drivers into SSPs and urges policymakers to consider both promoting sustainable development and addressing implications for geopolitical development.

Global Outlook 2024: Prospects for children - Cooperation in a fragmented world. (2024, January). UNICEF Innocenti - Global Office of Research and Foresight.

Meisel, C. (2024, January 2). The war party has champagne tastes on a beer budget. Responsible Statecraft. https://responsiblestatecraft.org/us-military-budget/

United Nations. 2024. Global Risk Report. New York: United Nations.

The Frederick S. Pardee Institute for International Futures conducted a detailed, risk-by-risk assessment to refine the initial list of over 100 risks identified for the report. This assessment involved defining each risk, reviewing existing literature, estimating the likelihood of each risk by 2050, and analyzing potential impacts. Furthermore, modeling data from the Pardee Institute's International Futures (IFs) integrated modeling framework was used to strengthen the robustness of the foresight scenarios presented in the report.

Meisel, C. (2023, December 7). Rewind and Reconnoiter: China's Slowing Economy with Collin Meisel. War on the Rocks.

In 2019, Collin Meisel and Jonathan D. Moyer wrote “Preparing for China’s Rapid Rise and Decline” for War on the Rocks, looking at how “China’s rapid transition toward a downward trajectory will pose a unique set of national security challenges for the United States that could prove even more difficult than those posed by China’s rise.” In light of China’s economic slowdown, we asked Collin to look back on the piece and its recommendations. Read more by clicking on the link.