How Cuba’s Communists Cling to Power

Protesters gather in Miami, Florida to show support for Cuban protestors on July 11, 2021 (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

As protests erupted across Cuba last weekend, the communist regime faced its severest test since the fall of the Soviet Union, writes Walter Russell Mead in the Wall Street Journal. The government has a history of resilience: While many observers expected the regime to disintegrate after losing its Soviet sponsor, Fidel Castro found new sources of revenue to replace the Soviet Union. Can the regime save itself once again—this time by monetizing Chinese and Russian hostility to the U.S. to provide a new long-term income stream?

Virtual Event | Religious Freedom and a Free and Open Indo-Pacific

Indonesian General Secretary of the Nahdlatul Ulama Yahya Cholil Staquf (L) and U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo (R) meet in Jakarta on October 29, 2020. (Photo by ADEK BERRY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Join Hudson Institute Distinguished Fellow Kenneth Weinstein for a moderated discussion with Indonesian religious and civil society leader Yahya Cholil Staquf and Hudson Distinguished Fellow Michael R. Pompeo. Staquf will share his vision of a free, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific in conversation with former Secretary of State Pompeo, a key architect of America’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy and a leading advocate for the centrality of international religious freedom to U.S. foreign policy. 

To Avert Disaster in Afghanistan, Look to Central Asia

Photo taken on June 4, 2021, shows the city view of Tashkent, Uzbekistan. (Photo by Zafar Khalilov/Xinhua via Getty Images)

As President Biden formulates his post-withdrawal strategy for Afghanistan, he would do well to consider the importance of Central Asia to the country’s future stability, write Hudson Senior Fellow Michael Doran and Chairman of Central Asia-Caucasus Institute Fred Starr in the Wall Street Journal. The Uzbeks and other Central Asian neighbors are eager to build international diplomatic and economic support for new transport and infrastructure projects to connect their region with South and Southeast Asia. Central Asian countries are reclaiming the ancient links that Russian colonialism sought to destroy—and with the right support, Kabul could be part of these important initiatives.

Virtual Event | Can Hong Kong Remain a Global Financial Center?

Chief Operations Officer Chow Tat Kuen (C) is escorted by police from the Hong Kong headquarters of the Apple Daily newspaper and its publisher Next Digital Ltd. on June 17, 2021 (Photo by Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)

The dismantling of democracy and basic civil liberties in Hong Kong has escalated significantly since Beijing imposed the draconian National Security Law (NSL) in June 2020. In May 2021, authorities froze the assets of imprisoned entrepreneur and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai, and in June, Lai’s independent media outlet Apple Daily was forced to shut its doors under the specious pretext of the NSL.

At a Hudson Institute event, Mark Clifford, independent non-executive director of Apple Daily's parent company Next Digital, described the reality on the ground for these journalists: "This isn't just a tough regime. This is a totalitarian regime that is bending and breaking people, using every instrument to try to appear legal, to try to appear as if people love them when people in Hong Kong hate them." Watch the event, hosted by Research Fellow Nate Sibley with guests Carolyn Bartholomew, Ellen Bork, Bill Browder, and Mark Clifford to learn more. 

India Has a Long Way To Go In Confronting China

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Brasilia, Brazil, Nov. 13, 2019. (Photo by Zhang Ling/Xinhua via Getty Images)

India’s recent decision to move 50,000 additional troops to its border with China came as a belated response to China’s surprise occupation of several square miles of Indian territory in the Ladakh region last year, write Ambassador Husain Haqqani and Aparna Pande in The Hill. China views India as an inward-looking democracy that has yet to focus on economic growth or military prowess—and only the expansion of India’s economy and military capability will convince China’s leaders to think otherwise.

BEFORE YOU GO...

Listen to Hudson Institute Adjunct Fellow Casey Michel's interview with John Heathershaw, associate professor of international relations at the University of Exeter in the most recent episode of Making a Killing, Ep. 11: “Kleptocrats and the Art of Reputation Laundering.” Just as they launder dirty money to conceal its origins, kleptocrats are burnishing their tarnished reputations through donations to prestigious institutions such as universities.

Making a Killing explores how corruption is reshaping global politics and fueling some of the deadliest security threats facing the world today. Tune in every Thursday and be sure to subscribe.