Research Program
Geoeconomics & Defense
The intersection of economic and security policy is where the most consequential decisions are made — and where the analytical gap between developed and emerging economy institutions is widest. CEE's Geoeconomics & Defense program studies that intersection with the rigor it demands.
Program Focus
Economic Statecraft in Emerging Markets
Geoeconomics — the use of economic instruments to achieve geopolitical objectives — is reshaping the strategic environment for emerging economies. Sanctions regimes, technology controls, supply chain restructuring, and currency competition are creating new risks and opportunities for governments that lack the analytical capacity to navigate them.
CEE's Geoeconomics & Defense program provides that analytical capacity. We study the economic dimensions of strategic competition, the security implications of economic dependencies, and the policy choices available to emerging economies caught between competing great powers.
Our work is grounded in the conviction that the most important geoeconomic dynamics are playing out in emerging and frontier markets — not in the capitals of the great powers — and that the governments of those markets deserve analysis that takes their perspective seriously.
Research Themes
Critical Minerals & Supply Chain Security
Mapping the strategic competition for critical minerals, tracking supply chain restructuring, and analyzing the policy options for resource-rich frontier economies.
Yuan Internationalization
Tracking the pace and drivers of yuan adoption across trade invoicing, reserve accumulation, and financial infrastructure — and what it means for dollar dominance.
Economic Statecraft & Sanctions
Analyzing how sanctions regimes, export controls, and investment restrictions are reshaping the strategic environment for emerging economies.
Defense Industrial Policy
Examining how emerging economies are building domestic defense industrial capacity and the economic implications of defense spending choices.
Great Power Competition in Frontier Markets
Tracking US-China competition for economic influence in frontier markets — financing models, conditionality, and long-term strategic positioning.
Program Data Products
Yuan Adoption Tracker
LiveComprehensive tracking of yuan adoption across trade invoicing, reserve accumulation, bilateral swap lines, and CIPS participation.
Critical Elements Project
Live63 elements, 24 contestable supply locations. Mapping the path to Western critical minerals dominance through frontier economies.
Supply Chain Stress Index
Coming SoonA composite index measuring supply chain stress across critical sectors — semiconductors, rare earths, pharmaceuticals, and energy.
Geoeconomic Advisory Work
CEE provides advisory support on geoeconomic strategy, supply chain positioning, and critical minerals policy.