Isaac Kardon

YouTube video by Carnegie Endowment What Makes China's Party-State Capitalism Different?

How should we understand China’s system of party-state capitalism, and what sets it apart from other countries with strong state intervention in the economy?
Meg Rithmire discusses on #TheWorldUnpacked with @ibkardon.bsky.social: youtube.com/shorts/Qly5_...

YouTube video by Carnegie Endowment The New Geopolitics of Subsea Cables

Subsea cables carry 95% of the world’s data but are largely invisible in global policy debates. @ibkardon.bsky.social, Jane Munga, and @sophiabesch.bsky.social discuss the geopolitics, economics, and risks surrounding undersea data infrastructure on #TheWorldUnpacked: www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJIq...

YouTube video by Carnegie Endowment Subsea Cables and European Security

What are subsea data cables, and why are they important to European security? @sophiabesch.bsky.social explains on the latest #TheWorldUnpacked, with Jane Munga and @ibkardon.bsky.social: youtube.com/shorts/twSI9...

YouTube video by Carnegie Endowment Subsea Cables and Africa's Future

Why are subsea data cables so critical for Africa's socio-economic future? Jane Munga discusses on the latest #TheWorldUnpacked, with @ibkardon.bsky.social and @sophiabesch.bsky.social: youtube.com/shorts/oArgQ...

How does capitalism function in China, a party-state that tries to maintain “rule by market” without ceding too much control to private capital?

@ibkardon.bsky.social discusses with Meg Rithmire on #TheWorldUnpacked: youtu.be/BMb3S8Jin_A?...

❤️💙♥️

YouTube video by Carnegie Endowment Why We All Need to Care About Nukes Again

Now available in video: my chat with @ibkardon.bsky.social about my new book. (And definitely the first podcast I’ve done on nukes that ends in a hug!) www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjOp...

“The Life of the Party: Past and Present Constraints on the Future of the Chinese Communist Party"

Yvonne Chiu, @ibkardon.bsky.social, & Jason M. Kelly’s co-edited publication contains essays from experts on persistent patterns and new developments in Chinese politics since the CCP’s founding.

Why We All Need to Care About Nukes Again | The World Unpacked Isaac Kardon sits down with Ankit Panda to explore today’s new nuclear age—and what it will take to manage the growing risks of confrontation and escalation.

Out now: @ibkardon.bsky.social sits down with @nktpnd.bsky.social to explore today’s new nuclear age—and what it will take to manage the growing risks of confrontation and escalation.

Listen to #TheWorldUnpacked here: the-world-unpacked.simplecast.com/episodes/why...

Does China’s Growing Security Outreach Matter? Tracing Implications for Irregular Warfare and U.S. Security Cooperation More countries are turning to both the U.S. and China for different types of security support. Learn what “security hybridization” means and why it matters.

On this 6/4, sharing a new piece out at Irregular Warfare Initiative with @ibkardon.bsky.social on "Does China's Growing Security Outreach Matter?" (Spoiler: Yes.)
Grateful to @atwellkyle.bsky.social & the entire IWI team for the chance to share our analysis:
irregularwarfare.org/articles/doe...

SecDef Hegseth's Shangri-La Dialogue speech repeated conventional wisdom that's already eroded. No longer a functional division of getting security from US, prosperity from China. China's emerged as a global security provider, as @ibkardon.bsky.social and I show in @intsecurity.bsky.social:

Trump’s Greenland Obsession Will Not Secure America Countering Russia and China in the Arctic requires leveraging alliances, not fracturing them.

President Trump’s desire to “get” Greenland isn’t keeping the U.S. secure. By working with – not against – its allies, Washington can counter Russia and China in the Arctic.

@ibkardon.bsky.social‬ and @alexgabuev.bsky.social‬ explain for @foreignpolicy.com: foreignpolicy.com/2025/05/26/t...

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Appreciate the extensive quotations and use of my data in this excellent article, which puts the Panama Canal ports in their proper global context. context.

We are still waiting for the other shoe to drop in this maritime mega-deal…watch this space.

President Trump’s efforts to take the Panama Canal may now be in limbo thanks to a Chinese antitrust investigation.

Carnegie’s @ibkardon.bsky.social explained for @nytimes.com . Read the full article here: buff.ly/FkEMSR2

Appreciate the extensive quotations and use of my data in this excellent article, which puts the Panama Canal ports in their proper global context. context.

We are still waiting for the other shoe to drop in this maritime mega-deal…watch this space.

CK Hutchison is accused of "disregarding national interests and national justice and betraying and selling out all Chinese people" over its sale of Panama Canal ports to US. firm BlackRock in a state media commentary posted by China's Hong Kong and Macao office.

www.hmo.gov.cn/sgazx/gayw/2...

With co-author @marsecbradford.bsky.social maritime guru at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS)

IP25026 | American Consortium’s Purchase of Hong Kong-Owned Port Terminals Has Implications Far Beyond Panama SYNOPSIS The announcement that the American consortium BlackRock will be buying Hong Kong CK Hutchison’s port operations business has been heralded as a success in support of President Donald Trump’s ...

Just published this short piece on the big Panama Canal port deal and implications for US-China (maritime) competition, and the middle powers squeezed in between.

BLUF: BlackRock acquired a huge port-folio of port terminals, planting US flag in a long-neglected sector.

rsis.edu.sg/rsis-publica...

Security without Exclusivity: Hybrid Alignment under U.S.-China Competition Abstract. This article explores an emerging dynamic in the international system: Countries across the world are engaged in simultaneous security cooperation with both China and the United States. Chin...

And this more recent piece

direct.mit.edu/isec/article...

Fascinating piece from @ibkardon.bsky.social and @sheenagreitens.bsky.social on US-Chinese rivalry

www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

School?! 😹

China, Regime Security, and Authoritarian Collaboration China’s growing security relationships with Russia, Iran, and North Korea take place in a broader context: China’s emergence as a global security provider, one that has a different emphasis than the U...

Thanks to @carnegieendowment.org #CarnegieAsia for posting this copy of my testimony to the USCC last week on China's security cooperation with Russia, NK, & Iran:
carnegieendowment.org/posts/2025/0...

CK Hutchison shares jump 22% after Panama Canal stake sale to BlackRock CK Hutchison stock gained more than 22% on Wednesday after the Hong Kong conglomerate sold a majority stake in a $22.8 billion ports unit, including assets along the Panama Canal, to a group led by U.S. buyout firm BlackRock .

Of course, the US has no recognizable claims on the Canal, nor has it been 'reclaimed' - but this is a seismic shift in the global commercial maritime landscape.

Hutchison is selling off its Panama holdings - and also another 41 terminals in 22 countries. Big deal!!

www.reuters.com/markets/asia...

Excited to share my latest piece with @sheenagreitens.bsky.social, just out with International Security: Quarterly Journal (doi.org/10.1162/isec...).

Builds on our prior work in @foreignaffairs.com (www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...)

Paywalled for now, but here's the gist: (1/6)

Politics of the North Korean Diaspora

Delighted to see Dr. Chestnut Greitens’ much anticipated book arrive!

Taiwan catches Chinese-owned ship in act of cutting subsea cable Confrontation comes after Taipei launched crackdown on Beijing’s ‘shadow fleet’

Caught in the act.

Taiwan’s coastguard said it caught a Chinese-owned freighter cutting a subsea communications cable off its western coast early on Tuesday.

www.ft.com/content/eb4a...

As a result, more & more countries want security assistance from both US and China, and are well-positioned to take advantage of each great power's differentiated strengths. This is a moving target and warrants further studies on PRC bilateral security relationships. (6/6)

"Regime security" is China's fundamental goal, at home and for partners abroad; America's security outreach, by contrast, seeks to produce "regional security." (Even as the current administration walks back certain commitments in this vein, the basic architecture remains). (5/6)

China's security cooperation keys on its partners' internal and non-traditional threats, prioritizing action against threats to authoritarian efforts to control their populations and to repress & intimidate their political opposition. (4/6)