According to new CSIS analysis and satellite imagery, Moscow has prepared a growing number of its conventional army, navy, and air force units for a possible invasion of Ukraine. Between early November 2021 and late January 2022, Russian military constructed at least eight new compounds in Yelnya—located near the Russian Ukrainian border—where increases in vehicles, trailers, border tanks, self-propelled howitzers, and other weapons systems can be seen.

SOURCE: "Russia's Gamble in Ukraine" by CSIS's Seth G. Jones and Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., and Philip G. Wasielewski.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index showed that food prices increased 6.3 percent from December 2020 to December 2021, with grocery prices up in almost every category in recent months. Some food prices have risen even more—chicken, for example, costs 10.4 percent more on average than it did a year ago.

SOURCE: "High Prices, Empty Shelves" by CSIS's Jamie Lutz and Caitlin Welsh.

The Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) 2022 estimates 274 million individuals will need humanitarian assistance and protection in 2022, a significant increase from 235 million people last year, which was already the highest in decades. This increase illustrates how the climate crisis, Covid-19, and armed conflict are derailing decades of hard-won gains in education, food security, gender equality, and healthcare in humanitarian contexts.

SOURCE: "The Global Humanitarian Overview 2022: Climate, Gender, and Humanitarian Response" by CSIS's Jacob Kurtzer, Hareem Fatima Abdullah, and Nicolas Jude Larnerd.

In the Indo-Pacific region, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for 60–70 percent of employment but only 35 percent or less of direct exports, meaning there is ample room for growth. Simplifying and improving import and export procedures at the border are critical to promoting jobs and growth—such as the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) that entered into force among World Trade Organization members in 2017.

SOURCE: "Filling In the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework" by CSIS's Matthew P. Goodman and Bill Reinsch.