Under the command of Xi Jinping, the Chinese Communist Party faces a host of domestic and international challenges as it aims to bolster China’s great-power status.

In North Korea, all authority flows from Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. He has reinstated the party as the central hub to consolidate his power and bring elites to heel.

China and India increasingly vie for strategic advantage in the Indian Ocean, while also cooperating on some transnational security issues.  

Once locked in war, Vietnam and the United States have built mature ties rooted in mutual economic and security interests.