FP Special Reports: Be the source of actionable insight.
Produced by FP Analytics, Foreign Policy's research and advisory division, Special Reports offer forward-looking analysis on emerging economic and geopolitical trends.

Information Warfare in Russia’s War in Ukraine
FP Analytics' Issue Brief, Information Warfare in the Ukraine-Russia Conflict, examines the role of social media and artificial intelligence in shaping global narratives. Drawing on data, the analysis and infographics provide readers with insights into three critical components: how social media platforms are being leveraged to spread competing national narratives and disinformation; the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in promoting, and potentially combating, disinformation; and, the role of social media companies and government policies on limiting disinformation.

Climate Finance and Geostrategic Interests in the Pacific
The Pacific Islands—comprising 14 countries and seven territories—are an underdiscussed, yet increasingly important, strategic theater of great power politics between the U.S. and China as well as transnational challenges such as climate change. As U.S.-China relations steadily deteriorate under mounting economic, military, and technological competition, the Pacific Islands are caught between global superpowers vying for regional influence, all while trying to advance their economies and withstand the accelerating impacts of climate change. This brief explores Chinese and American strategic and security interests in the Pacific region, the potential economic and security impacts of climate change on the Pacific Islands, and the role of climate development finance in PICs’ economies.

How Climate Change and War Are Compounding Food Insecurity
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused supply chain disruptions and food price spikes that threaten the global trade of grains, oilseeds and fertilizers—staples for billions of people across the world. Governments and humanitarian aid organizations are scrambling to mitigate the near- and medium-term impacts of war, but how are these challenges being compounded by the ongoing effects of climate change? This FP Analytics brief addresses this critical question and examines how the long-term effects of climate change exacerbate global food security.

How Will New Export Controls Impact the Global Semiconductor Shortage?
More than 30 countries representing over half of global GDP have issued sanctions and export controls to isolate Russia from the international trade system and deny access to key Western technologies since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. These new restrictions could devastate critical sectors in the Russian economy that depend on essential semiconductors, or chips, which are the lifeblood of modern technology. But how will these new export controls impact already-strained global supply chains and the global semiconductor shortage? This FP Analytics’ brief addresses this critical question, examining how the U.S. is adapting its economic statecraft strategy to Russia, other regions’ efforts to fortify their supply chains, and the implications these recent developments have for the global economy.

What Does Russia’s Removal From SWIFT Mean For the Future of Global Commerce?
As part of the West’s escalating sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, select Russian banks have now been banned from participating in the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT). Once considered the “nuclear” option, the move is already having crippling effects on the Russian economy. But what exactly is SWIFT and how is it being leveraged to thwart Russian aggression? This FP Analytics’ brief explains how Russia’s removal from SWIFT will undercut Russia’s access to international financial markets, further isolate it from the West, and ultimately accelerate a global economic re-orientation.

How Russia’s Future With NATO Will Impact the Arctic
Amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the geopolitical importance of the Arctic region is coming back into focus. The abundant resources contained in the Arctic, combined with Russia’s strong military position in the region, are critical factors shaping the U.S. and EU’s strategic engagement with Russia. Building on the Arctic Competition Power Map series, this brief lays out how the Arctic is set to play a growing and crucial role in future geopolitical, economic, and military affairs.

Is It Time for the U.S. to Issue a Digital Dollar?
Following the recent release of U.S. Federal Reserve’s first discussion paper on the potential issuance of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), FP Analytics addresses five key foreign-policy concerns raised by governors about monetary and financial stability risks. This brief analysis builds on FP Analytics’s Future of Money report and breaks down the Fed’s CBDC evaluation and the potential implications of a U.S. CBDC for businesses and organizations in the U.S. and around the world.

Why China’s New Data Security Law Is a Warning for the Future of Data Governance
China’s two newest data security laws—which came into effect at the end of 2021—include new guidelines for handling data, updated enforcement measures, and additional restrictions on the transfer of data outside of China. Notably, the DSL broadly expands the extraterritorial reach of China’s existing data rules, creating a critical new set of guidelines for companies doing business with Chinese citizens—both within and outside the country’s borders—to navigate. This update builds on FP Analytic’s Global Data Governance report and outlines, what’s new, why it matters, and what these new developments could mean for your organization.

Environment, Fragility & Conflict
Sixteen of the 20 countries that are most vulnerable to ecological threats are also among the countries most vulnerable to socioeconomic or political risks—which can lead to environmentally-linked conflict. FP Analytics’ new special report dives into the drivers and consequences of global environmentally-linked conflict. Breaking the self-perpetuating cycles of environmental degradation, fragility, and conflict requires concerted action from stakeholders to build multidimensional resilience, which can help stabilize fragile and conflict-prone regions, save lives, and build sustainable livelihoods.

Global Finance and Management of Climate-Related Risk
Climate change and its cascading impacts pose major risks to the world’s financial system and the broader global economy. By 2050, climate change could slash global annual economic output by $23 trillion if the rise of global temperatures is not kept in check. This special report from FP Analytics explores the climate-related financial risks facing the private sector and examines how the systemic nature of these risks is driving the adoption and development of regulation and changing monetary policy around the world.

Congress Takes on Crypto
On December 8th and 14th, the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services and the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs brought together crypto CEOs, industry leaders, and subject-matter experts to deepen lawmakers’ understanding of the cryptocurrency landscape, specifically the role of stablecoins.

Firm Zero-Emission Power
Maintaining significant generating resources with operating characteristics similar to today’s power plants—often referred to as “firm” or “dispatchable” resources, because they can be ramped up and down at any time—would dramatically reduce the likely costs of deep decarbonization of the grid while also reducing technology risk by harnessing a more diversified portfolio of solutions. In FP Analytics’ latest report, find out how carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), advanced nuclear, and unconventional geothermal can be part of the solution.

Toward Deep Decarbonization
Some 70 percent of today’s CO2 emissions belong to countries with net-zero commitments, but tangible policy action to those ends continues to fall short. Batteries and hydrogen have emerged as two promising technologies for enabling this next level of economy-wide deep decarbonization. This FP Analytics’ Special Report examines the state of the technology, investment trends, and strategic collaborations that are driving decarbonization in some of the hardest-to-abate sectors.

The Global Race to Vaccinate
The authorization, approval, and initial distribution of 13 different COVID-19 vaccines, and the development of nearly 100 more that are currently in trials, offer hope for more effective management and an eventual end to the pandemic. As of this writing, there are seven vaccines approved for widespread use, six in early or limited use, and 23 in large-scale efficacy Phase 3 testing.

Semiconductors and the U.S.-China Innovation Race
The lifeblood of high-tech industries, semiconductors are at the heart of intensifying U.S.-China strategic and economic competition. Escalating trade tensions between these two superpowers and a range of protective measures have had cascading impacts that are threatening global supply chains, firms’ competitiveness, and end-users’ access to these vital materials. FP Analytics’ Special Report examines the interconnectivity and fragility of global supply chains and the central role of Taiwan in global tech competition.

Cybersecurity and U.S. Election Infrastructure
As voters prepare to cast their ballot in the 2020 elections, this report analyzes the underreported issue of voting machine infrastructure security, derives insights from other countries’ experiences with foreign interference, and pinpoints what voters and officials can do to strengthen security on Election Day—and beyond.

The COVID-19 Global Response Index
As governments around the world continue to grapple with the pandemic, FP Analytics has developed the COVID-19 Global Response Index to track countries’ responses to the novel coronavirus according to key metrics.

Climate and Security
The threat of climate change requires understanding, strategic planning, and transnational cooperation across sectors in order to design and implement solutions on a global scale. This FP Analytics’ report looks at how to manage the cascading security implications of a warming world, including lessons learned from the 2019 Climate & Security PeaceGames.

The Her Power Index
The Her Power Index links data analysis with insight from former and current foreign-policy staffers to illuminate the under-representation of women across U.S. foreign policy agencies over the last decade.

Mining the Future
Mining the Future is the first systematic and comprehensive assessment of China’s accumulation of control and influence over a range of critical metals and minerals, and the supply chains upon which the future of the high-tech industry depends.