Chinese port financing has plenty of drawbacks. But developing countries have few alternatives. 

For North Korea, 2022 was marked by a record number of missile tests, the implementation of a national quarantine against COVID-19 cases, and recentralized government control over economic activities…

Amidst accusations of “debt-trap diplomacy,” Chinese companies seek more overseas direct investment opportunities and fewer foreign contracted projects as Xi’s flagship initiative is stymied by poor …

Despite controversy surrounding the deal, the approval of a Chinese stake in Europe’s third largest port may be a smarter decision than it initially appears. 

The liberal international order is more resilient than its critics recognize.

State Department releases digital diplomacy strategy; Microsoft bans police from using AI facial recognition; sixty eight companies sign CISA pledge; researchers discover whale alphabet; Microsoft in…

Today is my last day at CFR, which marks the conclusion of over fifteen years of contributions to Asia Unbound. My publications and contributions to CFR remain in archives on the website. 

In its February update, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) includes numerous new words of Nigerian origin. Many of the words relate to food preparation, urban transportation, the shortening of conventional English words, and the incorporation of words from indigenous languages. For example, ‘mama put’ refers to female food venders, ‘okada’ are passenger-carrying motorcycles, ‘guber’ refers to gubernatorial, and ‘danfo’ is the Yoruba work for urban minibuses.