China views Iran as a central element in its much-touted Silk Road Economic Belt, which aims to extend Beijing's influence overland through Central Asia to the Persian Gulf and Europe. This article for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Open Briefing analyst Kevjn Lim discusses Iran's importance to China, including the geostrategic Iran plays as China's most convenient non-Russian access route to open waters and the only east-west/north-south intersection for Central Asian trade.
Category: Intelligence desks
National security decision-making in Iran
In this journal article for Comparative Strategy, Open Briefing analyst Kevjn Lim reviews national security decision-making in the Iranian context by focusing on institutions, formal process and individuals. He specifically examines the Supreme National Security Council, which formalises and embodies the decision-making process, as well as the Revolutionary Guards, which epitomise both the influence of institutions as well as the centrality of the agent-individual.
Transnational organised crime monthly briefing, June 2015: Australian Crime Commission highlights links between terrorism and organised crime
Monthly intelligence briefing on transnational organised crime from Open Briefing. This month: the Australian Crime Commission has highlighted the links between terrorism and organised crime; the World Health Organisation has called for an end to the global illicit tobacco trade; the Criminal Justice Inspectorate of Northern Ireland has reported on how organised crime groups are becoming increasingly involved with ‘waste crime’; and more.
Transnational organised crime monthly briefing, March 2015: Spotlight on Polar regions
Monthly intelligence briefing on transnational organised crime from Dr Mary Young. This month's spotlight on Polar regions highlights how transnational organised crime gangs are exploiting the Arctic's vast uninhabited areas and lack of dedicated police officers and criminal intelligence officers for human, drug and weapons trafficking and other illegal activities. It also discusses the US Coast Guard's evolving efforts to tackle such crimes in the Arctic.
Bibi’s upset comeback
After a last minute electoral upset, Israeli Prime Minster Benyamin Netanyahu will almost certainly form a new government. What does a fourth term for Bibi mean for Israel, Palestine and the wider region?
Intelligence brief: Reducing the supply of weapons to Boko Haram
This briefing assesses Boko Haram's arsenal, where those munitions come from, and how best to reduce the flow of weapons to the group. The group’s weaponry is predominantly of Russian and Eastern European stock looted from police stations and military bases within Nigeria. It will be impossible to stem the flow of weapons to Boko Haram completely. Ultimately, it will be efforts to tackle the deep structural socio-economic problems in northern Nigeria that will have the most success in fundamentally weakening Boko Haram.
Transnational organised crime monthly briefing, February 2015: Spotlight on Asia and Pacific
Monthly intelligence briefing on transnational organised crime from Dr Mary Young. This month's spotlight on Asia and the Pacific includes details of efforts to tackle transnational organised crime gangs, which are to blame for the increase in environmental crime in Asia.
Transnational organised crime monthly briefing, January 2015: Spotlight on Africa
Monthly intelligence briefing on transnational organised crime from Dr Mary Young. This month's spotlight on Africa includes details of the warship gifted to the Nigerian Navy by the United States to help combat transnational organised maritime crime in Nigerian waters, including piracy, oil theft and terrorism.