Focusing on "heterogeneous spanning space" of human and non-human elements and "post-relational ontology" with the process logic, assemblage provides a new philosophical perspective for geographical research, as it considers the interactions between heterogeneous components and their dynamic relations. From the assemblage perspective, this paper attempts to construct an analytical framework for the geographical process of international corridor construction, which means that, the process can be analysed through the component dimension of material/expressive, or the changing dimension of territorialization/deterritorialization and coding/decoding. Using the China-Myanmar Indian Ocean New Channel as a case study, this paper analyses its geographical process assembled by heterogeneous elements and their interrelations over the past century. The main finding is that, based on geographical advantages of Lincang's side as material components, the corridor's opening is assembled jointly by the historical trauma and century-old dream resulted from the Yunnan-Myanmar Railway, the leadership of the Chinese government and positive practices of local actors in the 21st century. The sudden termination of the Yunnan-Burma Railway due to the Japan's invasion in the Second World War, has coded the painful memory for local actors, which became the affective power to force the subsequent assembling. The cross-scale power coupling of the corridor's assemblage in the 21st century is achieved through the Chinese government's initiative and the railway infrastructure construction, as well as Lincang's positive cooperation with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Myanmar's actors, and China's other provinces, cities and enterprises. However, the corridor construction still faces assembling risks and challenges currently, such as the low-level construction of transborder infrastructure, the insufficient coding of bilateral agreements, and ongoing conflicts in northern Myanmar, which all need to be coped with in the future. This paper not only contributes to the understanding of the process and integrity of assemblage, complements the recognition of geo-relations and actors' functions, but also inspires the discussion and innovation of geography's research paradigms, and the corridor construction and development in the future.

Geopolitics is increasingly a focus in ethnography and social networks research, with an urgent need for China to address international criticism regarding the persistent conflicts of ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) in northern Myanmar. These critiques suggest that EAOs maintain "killed but not extinguished" and conflict persistence, drawing sustenance from a complex cross-border network with China, gaining essential resources like food and shelter. Employing long-term ethnographic tracking and social network analysis, this study examines the intricate relationship between the China-Myanmar cross-border complex social networks and the conflict in northern Myanmar. It starts with the "survival decision-making mechanism," which decomposes the survivability data obtained by EAOs in northern Myanmar into three stages: data acquisition, the extent of complex social network data obtained, and the volume of such data. The survivability data linked to these cross-border networks is empirically tested using the Triple-Hurdle model. The discussion emphasizes ethnography's novel contributions to geopolitical research, showcasing its growing relevance and validity in this domain. The findings reveal that: (1) Under the influence of transaction costs or not, the impact of cross-border complex networks on the conflict's sustainability and the EAOs' resource acquisition is marked by uncertainty, negative and weak positive influences, indicating no direct and inevitable link to the conflict's persistence in northern Myanmar. (2) Transaction costs serve as a mediating factor, with their reduction not directly correlated with the data acquired by EAOs. However, the primary role of cross-border networks is to "expand" cross-border complex social networks, increase transaction frequency, and reduce uncertainty, thereby lowering transaction costs. (3) Control variables like education level, age, and livelihood status have varying impacts on data acquisition stages, showing characteristics of coexistence of positive and negative, significant differences in levels, etc. This study's integration of ethnography with complex network analysis provides a comprehensive geopolitical analysis, enriching the ethnographic geopolitical narrative of the continuous conflict in northern Myanmar.

The shatter belt is the main region of global conflict and great power competition, and it has the basic characteristics of external compression, internal fragmentation and dynamic process, and it is a geographical region formed under the action of both internal and external scales. The basic characteristics and development mode of the shatter belt are consistent with the core concept of geo-setting research. From the perspective of geo-setting, the shatter belt is a constantly evolving geographical region with the interactive practice of multiple actors inside and outside the region as the core. Through interactive practice, the decision information generated by the shatter belt is integrated into the material and conceptual factors of the action of the geo-actors. Under such constraints, the arrangement and correlation of these decision behaviors in time series constitute the core content of its historical evolution. We selected the South Caucasus region at the junction of Asia and Europe as the research region. Since the independence of the three South Caucasus countries in 1991, this region has experienced a complex process of internal conflicts and external games, which can be used as a typical case for the analysis of the shatter belt. This paper establishes an analytical framework for the historical evolution of the shatter belt from the perspective of geo-setting, examines the historical evolution process and stage characteristics of the three countries after their independence from 1991 to 2020 from the perspectives of background factors, correlation factors and structural factors, and analyzes the internal ways to promote their historical evolution from the three aspects of cross-domain interaction, cross-scale coupling and multi-actor game. From the perspective of geo-political theory, it presents the historical evolution process of the shatter belt in a multi-dimensional way, and is committed to regionality, comprehensiveness and scale of geographical research into the research of history and international relations, so as to achieve interdisciplinary dialogue.

Strategic critical minerals are essential materials that will dominate the energy transition and technological revolution. In the context of global climate change and industrial transformation, the geopolitical phenomenon of major powers competing for critical minerals has rapidly emerged, yet relevant research remains relatively limited. Therefore, this paper aims to summarize the geopolitical research on critical minerals, elucidate the geopolitical logic behind them, and reveal the geopolitical patterns of critical minerals. Geopolitical research on critical minerals continues to be dominated by the West, while the domestic research is still in its initial stage. The geopolitical issues on critical minerals are driven by the demand consciousness raised by climate change and energy transition, the competition consciousness intensified by technological revolution and military-industrial innovation, as well as the crisis consciousness generated by the high concentration of supply chain. Technological complexity and application frontiers have determined that industrial and technological competition will lead the geopolitical future of strategic critical minerals, and thus the major powers have always been the absolute protagonists on the world stage. The United States holds the center stage in global competition, and despite its resource endowment, China faces significant security challenges. China should be acutely aware of this reality and formulate appropriate plans. The focus should be on strengthening geopolitical research on critical minerals based on theoretical foundations, enhancing geo-economic deployment of critical minerals with a focus on key areas, and constructing geo-security strategy for critical minerals guided by national demand.