<p>The Asia-Pacific is home to more people than any other region. Centered on the western rim of the Pacific Ocean, this region includes the easternmost countries of continental Asia as well as the archipelagos that punctuate the coast. Several of these countries, most notably China, experienced rapid economic growth in the second half of the 20th century, giving the region a new sense of global economic relevance that continues today. That relevance, however, depends largely on China, a power in transition whose rise is testing the network of U.S. alliances that have long dominated the region. How effectively Beijing manages its transition will shape the regional balance of power in the decades to come.</p>

Centered on the western rim of the Pacific Ocean, the Asia-Pacific region includes the easternmost countries of continental Asia as well as the archipelagos that punctuate the coast. 

Asia-Pacific

Australia

Samoa

Brunei Darussalam

Cambodia

China

Timor-Leste

Federated States of Micronesia

Fiji

Indonesia

Japan

Kiribati

Laos

Malaysia

Marshall Islands

Mongolia

Myanmar

Nauru

New Zealand

North Korea

Palau

Papua New Guinea

Philippines

Singapore

Solomon Islands

South Korea

Taiwan

Thailand

Tonga

Tuvalu

Vanuatu

Vietnam

Beyond Quantitative Easing

The New Silk Road

Modernizing China’s Military

The U.S. and the Balance of Power

Globalization

Social Issues

Coping With a Nuclear North Korea

Moscow Looks to the East

China in Transition

A Japanese Awakening

Asia-Pacific: Among Great Powers

Southeast Asia: Burdened by Consensus

Assessments

Nigeria

Zambia

United States

Iran

Morocco

Oman

Europe

Spain

Migrants wait to receive water on a beach in the North African Spanish enclave of Ceuta on Aug. 2, 2026.

Environment, Science & Technology

Military & Security

Politics

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended RANE articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: Extreme Weather in China and Europe, More Migrant Crossings Into Spain

Media

Podcasts

Who are the main players, and what are the primary frameworks holding it all together?

The Decision Advantage: The Security Architecture of the Pacific Islands

Greenland

Denmark

Russia

The Geopolitics of Natural Resources

Economics

Energy

Greenland's large deposits of critical minerals make the island one of the few potential alternatives to Chinese supply chains, but material constraints and diplomatic disputes will obstruct large-scale production.

The West's Quest To Exploit Greenland's Critical Minerals

A Chinese coast guard vessel is anchored in the waters of the South China Sea on March 8, 2026 near Sanya, Hainan province, China.

China's persistent maritime presence east of Taiwan demonstrates a slowly growing capability to threaten or enact a trade quarantine against the island and raises the risk of at-sea incidents. 

Extended Chinese Drills East of Taiwan Demonstrate Trade Quarantine Risk

Snapshots

A Thai soldier stands guard at a damaged border crossing point between Surin province's Chong Chom and O'Smach town on the Thai-Cambodian border, on March 12, 2026.

The Thai-Cambodian ceasefire will likely hold throughout 2026, but competing territorial claims, domestic politics and stalled diplomacy will prevent broader normalization.

Thailand and Cambodia Maintain an Uneasy Ceasefire

Ethiopia

South Africa

Brazil

Egypt

Saudi Arabia

India

(From left to right) Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa attend a plenary session at the BRICS summit in Kazan on Oct. 24, 2024.

The bloc's push to develop an independent payment system for trade will not immediately undermine the U.S. dollar's global dominance, though it could reduce the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions.

The Implications of an Independent BRICS Payment System

Philippine Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro (center) and other leaders leave after a group photo session on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Manila on July 24, 2026.

The meetings in Manila produced talks but no immediate collective action on critical regional issues like the Iran war's energy shock, intensifying South China Sea tensions and the Myanmar civil war.

ASEAN Meetings Make Little Headway on Pressing Energy and Security Issues

Columns

On Security

This photo illustration shows the ChatGPT logo at an office in Washington, D.C., on March 15, 2023.

The autonomous targeting of Hugging Face by OpenAI's models highlights the urgent need for organizations to prepare for advanced cyberattacks orchestrated entirely by AI agents.

Beyond the Hype of Autonomous AI Breaches

A decorative plate featuring an image of Chinese President Xi Jinping is seen behind a statue of late communist leader Mao Zedong at a souvenir store next to Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, on Feb. 27, 2018. 

China will remain a geopolitical enigma to the West as Beijing turns inward to insulate the CCP from the influence of external powers, an exercise that history suggests will threaten national prosperity and regime stability.

The Modern Geopolitics of China

U.S.-China Relations

A large container ship is seen docked at a port. 

Though interim measures or narrower agreements are plausible, Vietnam's dependence on Chinese inputs will likely prevent a comprehensive agreement, potentially exposing it to stricter U.S. scrutiny and new tariffs.

Vietnam's Reliance on Chinese Imports Complicates U.S. Trade Talks

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun told reporters to discount Unification Minister Chung Dong-young's Aug. 5 proposal for four-party talks between South Korea, North Korea, China and the United States, Reuters reported on Aug. 7.

South Korea: Officials Disagree Over North Korea Policy

India is pressing China to resume sharing water-flow data, which Beijing has not provided since the bilateral data-sharing agreement expired in June 2023, as concerns grow over its construction of the world's largest hydropower project on the Yarlung Tsangpo, which flows downstream through India and Bangladesh, Bloomberg reported on Aug. 7.

India, China: India Raises River Data Concerns With China Over Tibet Dam

Sub-Saharan Africa

Americas

Middle East and North Africa

Eurasia

South Asia

Researchers at Stanford and the Arc Institute used artificial intelligence to create 16 novel viral genomes, Science reported on Aug. 6.

Global: Scientists Use AI To Create 16 Novel Viruses

Cyber

Chinese artificial intelligence lab Moonshot's Kimi K3 model escaped a sandbox environment during an evaluation test conducted by U.S.-based cybersecurity research organization Frontier Security, as announced on Aug. 5.

China: Moonshot AI Escapes Sandbox During Testing

Nine out of 25 members of the General Affairs Committee of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party were absent from an Aug. 5 meeting in which attendees voted unanimously to approve Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's plan to cut the food consumption tax from 8% to 1%, Kyodo News reported on Aug. 6.

Japan: Cabinet Pushes Tax Cut Over LDP Concerns, Ditches Budget Official

The Cyberspace Administration of China announced on Aug. 6 that it would launch a formal cybersecurity review of products sold by U.S. cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks in China.

China: Cyber Regulator Opens Investigation Into Palo Alto Networks' Products

China's Ministry of Commerce on Aug. 5 placed seven U.S. due diligence companies on the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law Countermeasures List and prohibited entities in China from doing business with them. 

U.S., China: China Levies New Restrictions on U.S. Due Diligence Companies

United Kingdom

Anthropic's Mythos 5 and OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol artificial intelligence agents carried out unsanctioned activity and tried to deceive real people in organizations during a cybersecurity evaluation challenge carried out by the U.K. government's AI Security Institute, the institute said in a blog post and technical report published on Aug. 4.

Cyber: AI Agents Demonstrate Unsanctioned Deceptive Activity in Latest Example of AI Agents Going Rogue

Asia-Pacific

SITUATION REPORTS

South Korea: Officials Disagree Over North Korea Policy

India, China: India Raises River Data Concerns With China Over Tibet Dam

Global: Scientists Use AI To Create 16 Novel Viruses

China: Moonshot AI Escapes Sandbox During Testing

Japan: Cabinet Pushes Tax Cut Over LDP Concerns, Ditches Budget Official

China: Cyber Regulator Opens Investigation Into Palo Alto Networks' Products

U.S., China: China Levies New Restrictions on U.S. Due Diligence Companies

Cyber: AI Agents Demonstrate Unsanctioned Deceptive Activity in Latest Example of AI Agents Going Rogue

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