BRICS and the Currency Wars
By Antonio Graceffo Talk of expanding BRICS membership and de-dollarization is gaining traction, but enlarging the group or ditching the dollar remains elusive. Recently 19 countries, among them Saudi Arabia and…
Xi Shifts Blame as Chinese Economy Continues to Falter
By Antonio Graceffo Introduction In December of last year, China’s central government lifted its stringent “zero-COVID” restrictions, signaling to the public it shifted its principal policy objective from pandemic prevention…
Breaking the Grip: Comprehensive Policy Recommendations to Defeat Drug Cartels
By Antonio Graceffo In 2022, drug overdoses claimed the lives of over 100,000 Americans. The primary sources of illegal drugs flooding into the United States are the Mexican drug cartels, who…
The Chinese Communist Party’s War on Catholicism
By Antonio Graceffo In early June, a pastor in China’s Shandong Province was sentenced to five years in prison for printing hymnals and other theological materials. His co-worker was sentenced to three…
Narcotrafficking’s Impact on Source, Transit, and User Countries
By Antonio Graceffo Narcotrafficking is a transnational crime with drugs, weapons, money, and people crossing international borders for illicit purposes. Generally, narcotrafficking involves at least three countries: the source country,…
Sinaloa Cartel as international terror organization
By Antonio Graceffo The Sinaloa drug cartel is responsible for tens of thousands of deaths in the U.S. It also uses violence and corruption to control police, courts, and politicians…
Where Transnational Crime Meets Terrorism
By Antonio Graceffo Terrorist groups and transnational crime organizations share many of the same attributes, operating outside of the law, often committing violent acts and murder, as well as engaging…
End US Funding for China Research
Congressional committee implores White House to end China research agreement and funding By Antonio Graceffo The U.S. Select Committee on the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) sent a letter on June 27 to…
Modern Mongolia and the Economics of Herding
By Antonio Graceffo This analysis investigates the economic hardships experienced by Mongolian herders and explores the profound influence of global forces on their traditional way of life, shedding light on…
Stone broke Mongolians living loan to loan
By Antonio Graceffo, & Munkh-Orchlon Lkhagvadorj Household debt in Mongolia is equal to around 22% of GDP. The majority of Mongolian adults are in debt and many are using non-bank financing. This…