Our Insights
Featured Insights Selected by Our Experts
-
![]()
The Return of the Koh Ker Ganesha
with Brad Gordon, Channy Set, and Nguon Chhay Song | Hosted by Deborah Lehr
-
![]()
CES, Digital Trade, and the Future of Tech Supply Chains
with Ed Brytzwa | Hosted by Jake E. Jennings
-
![]()
Iran, The Days After: The Succession
By the Basilinna team
-
![]()
Why China Is Pushing Trade Facilitation Despite a Record Surplus
By Leigh Wedell and Ruihan Huang
-
![]()
Mexico Now America’s Top Trading Partner as USMCA Review Looms
By Abel Hibert, Senior Fellow
-
![]()
Nature as National Asset: How the Middle East Is Turning Biodiversity into Economic Opportunity
By Basilinna Deborah Lehr, Chair and CEO.
-
![]()
China Economic Stimulus Tracker
A comprehensive timeline of announcements and policy actions implemented by the Chinese government to stimulate economic activity.
-
![]()
From the Middle Kingdom to the Saudi Kingdom: Opportunities Abound
By Yasser Elnaggar, Chair of the Middle East and Africa
Explore all of our Insights, Interviews, Commentary, and More
The Overnight Collapse of the Assad Regime: A New Era for Syria and the Middle East
December 8, 2024 | The Basilinna Team
The unexpected and rapid collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime has reshaped the Middle East overnight. Rebels, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), advanced from their stronghold in Idlib, capturing Aleppo, Hama, and Homs before isolating Damascus. Within 12 days, Syria’s capital fell, signaling the end of over five decades of Assad family rule. Bashar al-Assad, who had been in power since 2000, reportedly fled Damascus early Sunday, leaving a power vacuum that is both historic and precarious.
China Economic Stimulus Tracker
February 17, 2025 | Basilinna Team
China is currently confronting economic challenges that have tempered its rapid growth, including substantial local government debt, a struggling real estate sector, and subdued domestic consumption. In response, the Chinese government initiated a series of stimulus measures in September 2024 to rejuvenate growth and bolster confidence in the economy.
From Free Trade Beneficiary to Leader: China Extends Zero Tariffs to the World’s Poorest Nations
November 26, 2024 | Basilinna Team
At the G20 meetings in Brazil, Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized that China stands with the least-developed countries (LDCs) and announced it would grant zero-tariff treatment to 100% of tariff lines for all LDCs with diplomatic ties to China, effective December 1, 2024. China is trying to position itself as a leader of free trade globally, in contrast to the United States and the incoming Trump administration’s proposal to significantly raise tariffs on most imports to the U.S., including up to 60% on all Chinese goods.
Is Xi Jinping Undermining China’s Path to Tech Superiority?
November 16, 2024 | Deborah Lehr, Chair and CEO
The recent decline in venture capital (VC) investment in China has far-reaching consequences, not only for the startup ecosystem but also for the broader Chinese economy. Once a vibrant hub for entrepreneurial activity, China’s startup scene is now facing significant challenges as VC funding drops to its lowest levels in years. The decline in capital investment is stalling the creation of new businesses, affecting employment, and slowing the pace of technological innovation – factors that collectively threaten the country’s long-term economic trajectory and President Xi Jinping’s ambitions.
From Beijing to the Bosphorus: New Opportunities in China - Türkiye Trade
November 15, 2024 | Basilinna Team in partnership with Corpera
Türkiye-China economic relations continue to strengthen as Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek wrapped up a visit to Beijing on November 8. There he had a series of high-level meetings with China’s government and financial leadership, including Vice President Han Zheng, Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing, and leaders from ICBC, Bank of China, and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
China’s New Debt Package: Fiscal Caution Over Bold Relief
November 14, 2024 | Basilinna Team
On November 8, China's National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) approved a proposal to refinance local government debt aimed at addressing the significant “hidden debt” incurred by provincial governments burdened by large unfunded mandates.
The New Trump Administration: Perspective from China
November 8, 2024 | Gracie Sun, Chair of Asia-Pacific
With President-elect Donald Trump returning to the White House, China faces a familiar yet unpredictable challenge. During his first term, Trump’s hardline stance reshaped U.S.-China relations, pivoting to a more confrontational approach centered on trade imbalances, tariffs, and restrictions on technology.
Trump 2.0 on China: Recalibration
November 8, 2024 | Basilinna Team
As President-elect Trump reenters office, China will be one of his foreign policy centerpieces. And no one should doubt his intentions. While often candidates’ tough rhetoric is softened upon taking office, in his first term, Trump managed to change both the narrative and the policy toward China away from engagement and integrating them into the global community to a limited containment approach.
Trump's Return: MENA Reactions, Regional Dynamics, and Economic Outlook
November 7, 2024 | Basilinna Team
In the MENA region, leaders reacted to Trump’s win with cautious optimism and pragmatism, signaling both hope for continuity and wariness about Trump’s unpredictability.
Lost Treasures: Crisis and Guardianship
October 17, 2024 | Deborah Lehr, Chair and CEO and Tess Davis, Executive Director
For centuries, the looting and trafficking of antiquities have never ceased. Yet the strength humanity shows in safeguarding its heritage is no less than the creative power of its ancestors. At the 4th Dialogue of the C.E.A. Museums Cooperation Initiative, Deborah Lehr, Chair and CEO of Basilinna and Founder of the Antiquities Coalition, and Tess Davis, Basilinna and Antiquities Coalition Executive Director, both focused on the astonishing creativity of museums as guardians of culture.