Three of the top five Fortune 500 companies in 2019 were Chinese state-owned enterprises: Sinopec Group, China National Petroleum, and State Grid. For these companies, market forces are secondary to political goals—leaving foreign firms on a playing field tilted against them.

SOURCE: "Toward a New Global Trade Framework" by the CSIS Trade Commission on Affirming American Leadership.

Facial recognition technology has improved rapidly over the past several years, and as of December 2020 had an error rate of just 0.1 percent. However, in real-world deployments, accuracy rates can be much lower—raising questions as to if the technology is appropriate for law enforcement use. 

SOURCE: "Questions about Facial Recognition" by CSIS's James A. Lewis and William Crumpler.

In 2020, online commerce in Africa grew 75 percent faster than the global average. This acceleration attracts strategic buyers, and e-commerce mergers could be a 2021 theme for Africa's increasingly interconnected consumers.

SOURCE: "African Venture and Startup Predictions for 2021" by CSIS's Eliot Pence. 

India contributes just 7 percent of annual greenhouse gas emissions, but as the country’s population continues to swell and its economy develops, global climate progress will depend ever more on its ability to chart a low-carbon future.

SOURCE: "Biden's Opportunity to Engage India on Renewable Energy Deployment" by CSIS's Lachlan Carey.