Beijing’s growing investment in ocean research is reshaping global marine science and geopolitics alike. Read analysis about the scale and impact of China's ocean science from IGCC senior fellow Jimmy Goodrich new on our blog: ucigcc.org/blog/oceans-...

How can lessons from the past help us create a more secure nuclear future? Sarah Bidgood, a 2024-26 IGCC postdoctoral fellow, speaks with us about what her archival work on historic nuclear crises can tell us about the potential for nuclear-armed conflict today: bit.ly/4pfg6VJ

On the heels of China's fourth plenum meeting, IGCC director Tai Ming Cheung offers analysis of a recent CCP communiqué that reveals some interesting clues to Beijing's priorities for economic and security development plan through 2030. New on our blog: ucigcc.org/blog/continu...

In a new episode of Talking Policy, Georgia Kernell of UCLA joins host Lindsay Shingler for a comparative look at the U.S. political system, and how America's deeply entrenched two-party system impacts both policy and political participation. Listen now: bit.ly/4qGa2qr

At the 2025 APEC Summit in South Korea, the issue of "overcapacity"—the imbalance between China’s vast production and the world’s ability or willingness to absorb it—looms large over the region. Read the latest analysis from IGCC expert Beije Tang: bit.ly/434G4ma

Meet new IGCC postdoc Dominic Brennan! In this interview, Dom discusses his research on nuclear algorithms, his transition from the hard sciences to policy, and his move from the UK to Washington, D.C. for this postdoctoral fellowship: ucigcc.org/interview/ig...

In the latest IGCC working paper, Andrew Shaver of UC Merced and a team of researchers at the Political Violence Lab share conclusions from online surveys in Bangladesh and Pakistan that helped uncover otherwise-unreported instances of political violence and human rights violations: bit.ly/3WrjlwH

In a recent IGCC blog post, UC Riverside professor Kevin Esterling details a platform that seeks to use AI and algorithmic tools to enhance the democratic process in an era where digital tech is often an oppositional force to democratic civil discourse: ucigcc.org/blog/can-dig...

IGCC is delighted to share that our podcast miniseries, Democracy and Its Discontents, has won Gold at the 2025 Davey Awards in the category for Podcast Series, Government & Political. Learn more about the series, and this wonderful recognition, here: bit.ly/4qd7WOG

IGCC is pleased to welcome two new members and a new chair to our Steering Committee! Composed of faculty representatives from all ten UC campuses and two national labs, the committee advises IGCC leadership, serves as campus liaisons, and awards IGCC fellowships and grants.

IGCC senior fellow Jimmy Goodrich was quoted in @financialtimes.com last week about China's sweeping rare-earth export controls: "If...the U.S. doesn’t respond strongly, Beijing could have complete control over the entire advanced semiconductor supply chain." Read more: on.ft.com/4pZzRl4

IGCC is pleased to welcome Aila Matanock (@matanock.bsky.social) to the institute's leadership as Research Director for Violence, Intervention, and Order. Aila, an IGCC affiliate since 2022, is an associate professor at @gpsucsd.bsky.social. Learn more about Aila here: ucigcc.org/people/aila-...

IGCC Research Director Stephan Haggard is in Cambridge, MA this weekend for his formal induction into the prestigious American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Please join us in congratulating Steph on this honor! More on Steph's election: today.ucsd.edu/story/americ...

President Trump's recent #UNGA speech excoriated the United Nations for being weak and ineffective. For the IGC blog, Bridget Coggins, Jungjae Hong, and Julia Morse describe how the U.S. may attack the UN as the 80th general assembly session continues: ucigcc.org/blog/two-way...

IGCC & UCSD's China Data Lab have launched the China Policy Document Navigator, a database giving researchers access to Chinese policy documents that are becoming increasingly difficult to access. Project leaders Barry Naughton & Young Yang discuss the new portal: ucigcc.org/interview/ch...

NEW PODCAST EPISODE: While the U.S. is questioning its role as an international security provider, China has unveiled its own global security initiatives. @sheenagreitens.bsky.social joined Talking Policy to explore the uncertain future of the global security order: ucigcc.org/podcast/will...

Populist leaders like Duterte in the Philippines have come to power promising tough action on crime. But as the former president faces ICC trial, what determines whether strongman tactics like his sustain or lose popular support? Read more on our blog: ucigcc.org/blog/the-phi...

Digital tech is transforming lives, but how will it be governed? For our blog, IGCC senior fellow Peter Cowhey shares insights from his visit to APEC South Korea and his recent report on how nations are trying to write the international digital rulebook: bit.ly/4gQ1JUP

IGCC's new postdoc Emily Kim discusses her research on AI governance, her career journey from Seoul to Atlanta to Washington D.C., and her love of CrossFit in a wide-ranging spotlight interview. Learn more about our new fellow as the academic year begins: ucigcc.org/interview/ig...

As the world gathers in New York this week for #UNGA, U.S. and Chinese leaders are outlining different visions of global order. IGCC nonresident fellow Rachel Hulvey spoke with Talking Policy earlier this year about how China is trying to assert itself as a global leader: bit.ly/4kLWKpm

It's a new academic year, and both classes and job searches are getting into full swing. In our latest Alumni Confidential interview, leading expert on U.S. foreign policy James Goldgeier recounts his journey and shares career advice with junior academics: ucigcc.org/alumni-confi...

This month's China Victory Day parade demonstrated the extent to which Beijing prioritizes military readiness. Back in May, IGCC director Tai Ming Cheung wrote on how militarization is becoming a driving force in Chinese politics, economics, and culture: ucigcc.org/blog/china-i...

Many democracies have experienced backsliding over the last decade. But how can these nations "frontslide" to restore the rule of law and democratic norms? Read the recent analysis from IGCC's blog on the glimmers of democratic renewal in Poland: ucigcc.org/blog/poland-...

How do false beliefs arise and spread? In the latest episode of IGCC's Talking Policy podcast, @ucirvine.bsky.social philosophy professor Cailin O'Connor (@cailinmeister.bsky.social) joins us to discuss the origins of misinformation and how it might be combated. Listen here: bit.ly/468bSIz

How do democratic backsliders act in international institutions? In the latest IGCC working paper, Anna Meyerrose and Irfan Noorudin look at how democratic backsliders selectively contest key aspects of the liberal international order: ucigcc.org/publication/...

Please join us in welcoming the six members of the 2025-26 cohort of IGCC's Postdoctoral Fellowship in Technology & International Security! Learn more about this program and get to know these new and returning postdoc fellows here: ucigcc.org/funding/post...

The tragic killing of Charlie Kirk adds yet another dark chapter of political violence to recent U.S. history. In 2022, UC San Diego's Barbara Walter joined Talking Policy to outline the dangers the country faces as these types of incidents continue to rise. Listen here: ucigcc.org/podcast/is-t...

In the first entry of IGCC's new "Then and Now" series, postdoctoral fellow Colleen Larkin reflects on how a provocative 1987 paper titled “Sex and Death” shaped her thinking on the connection between language and nuclear strategy: bit.ly/46vIuvU

Introducing IGCC's 2025-26 Dissertation Fellows! This year’s cohort, from across five UC campuses, are pursuing degrees in political science, sociology, environmental science, oceanography, and geography. Learn more about the program and meet our new fellows here: ucigcc.org/funding/diss...

The Trump administration has taken aim at military climate initiatives to refocus on defense. However, writes Nicolas Wittstock, there's a reason the military makes such investments—environmental changes impact its capacity to defend the country: bit.ly/4neQcQO

The 33rd Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue kicked off in Singapore yesterday. Participants from China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the U.S. discussed how to build trust and mutual respect among adversaries to prevent conflict in the Asia-Pacific region.

Yesterday, IGCC's new and returning Postdoctoral Fellows met in Washington D.C. for an orientation day that included a meeting with U.S. State Department historian Dr. James Wilson, and an exclusive tour of the State Department's Navy Hill facilities, including the former headquarters of the OSS!

IGCC is in Singapore for the 33rd Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue, beginning the week with an academic workshop exploring how Southeast Asian economies are reacting to shifting geopolitical alliances & the U.S. upending of the global trade order. Stay tuned for more updates!

Commentators are divided in their appraisals of two Trump-led Ukraine peace summits. But most have missed one thing: how the meetings have taught the president crucial realities about ending the war, argues Branislav Slantchev of @ucsandiego.bsky.social: ucigcc.org/blog/the-edu...

When governments take an “iron fist” approach to crime, what determines whether the public will support it? Enrico La Viña of @ucdavis.bsky.social and Nico Ravanilla of @ucsandiego.bsky.social ego explore this question in a new IGCC working paper in the context of the Philippines: bit.ly/41WGc6p

Political science can explain the historical factors behind authoritarianism, but has little to say about the actual experience of living under dictatorship. IGCC's Steph Haggard shares five novels that illuminate the realities of autocratic rule: bit.ly/45u6TBO

War, competition, and political change are putting military alliances under the spotlight. But beyond formal alliances, the mundane world of defense cooperation can reveal more about states’ security priorities explains UC Davis’ Brandon Kinne in a new IGCC blog: bit.ly/4lGI8qS

In a new episode of our Talking Policy podcast, IGCC postdoctoral fellow Nic Wittstock is joined by Dr. Pat Falcone of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to discuss the history of the national labs and the role they play in American innovation and global leadership: bit.ly/3HH2u5h

Six months in, President Trump’s tariff strategy is becoming clearer—and it’s unlike any other in U.S. history. In a new IGCC essay, David Lake puts U.S. trade policy in context and asks whether tariffs can protect American jobs, or if they’ll simply make consumers poorer: bit.ly/45i4Hx3

Multilateralism—once a tool for democratization—is now being used to cement authoritarian rule. For the IGCC blog, Maria Debre discusses how autocrats are banding together in “Dictators’ Clubs” to protect themselves from both internal and external threats: bit.ly/41H0f8L

The U.S. has had a fraught relationship with UNESCO for decades. But, argue Christina Cottiero and Stephan Haggard, the recent decision to withdraw—again—from the organization forms part of a pattern of the U.S. ceding influence in UN bodies to China: bit.ly/4mCmZPu

Reliable economic data is scarce in some countries due to government control, low capacity, or conflict. Stephan Haggard, Kyoochul Kim & Munseob Lee provide six methods for studying “economic black holes”—like North Korea—in the latest IGCC working paper: bit.ly/3J55GIe

The global nuclear order is changing rapidly, and Russia is making moves to stay ahead. In our latest blog post, IGCC postdoc Spenser Warren examines Russia’s novel weapons and their impact on the country’s nuclear competition with the United States: ucigcc.org/blog/what-ne...

From Libya and Saudi Arabia to Russia and Iran, oil and gas-producing states have repeatedly failed to translate resource wealth into battlefield success. In a new post on our blog, outgoing IGCC dissertation fellow Max Plithides uncovers the economic roots of military failure: bit.ly/4mlIunA

The populist right is ascendant across the West and committed to restricting immigration once in power. But, writes IGCC dissertation fellow Jesús Rojas Venzor, hardline policies could do more than restrict migration—they risk eroding core democratic tenets: bit.ly/4lM1BHr

Training is underway for our inaugural course on "Understanding China’s Science & Technology Ambitions," led by IGCC nonresident fellow Jimmy Goodrich. Over the next two days, Jimmy will unpack China’s evolving science and technology policy landscape.

The 2025 Public Policy & Nuclear Threats Boot Camp wraps up today. Our thanks to the many presenters and organizers who helped to make this event possible, and congratulations to the 29 participants who have successfully completed this year's course!

New on our website: an interview with professor & former dean at American University's School of Int'l Service @jimgoldgeier.bsky.social. An alumnus of IGCC's Dissertation Fellowship, Jim discusses his career trajectory and advice for scholarly engagement with decisionmakers: bit.ly/4nQaVM1

Dispatch from PPNT: On Day 3 of this year's boot camp, participants heard from Laura Rockwood (Senior Fellow, VCDNP) and Laura Holgate (Former U.S. Ambassador, @iaeaorg.bsky.social) on the international safeguards that are in place to reduce nuclear threats and increase security around the globe.

In the latest IGCC blog post, part of our series on Geoeconomics and Economic Statecraft, Andrew Reddie and Leah Walker of the Berkeley Risk and Security Lab discuss the evolution of U.S. sanctions sanctions strategy. Read their analysis here: bit.ly/44QlpSN