Research briefs.
China's Talent Acquisition: A Case of the U.S. Brain Drain→
2,621 US-based scientists of Chinese descent departed in 2021 alone. China's global scientific stature is rising as the US research environment shifts. Nation branding is part of the story.
Policy Structure and Brand: What Moves Talent?→
What Moves Talent? Why nations compete for talent and how structural access and national brand together shape where skilled people move and stay.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup: Soft Power, Closed Borders, and a Tri-Host Fracture→
77 matches. Over one million ticket requests each. 39 nations barred from entry. The soft power paradox of a host nation generating record attraction while restricting who can actually cross the border.
AI Infrastructure as Soft Power: The Splitting of the Global AI Stack→
China isn't just building better models — it's exporting the infrastructure layer of global AI through open-source licenses. When developers in Lagos or Berlin build on Qwen or DeepSeek, they're building on Chinese world-models. That's influence without presence.
Subscribe to receive new briefs.
A short note in your inbox each time we publish.