In 2021, in association with the Intercultural Language Resource Center (ILRC) at Coastal Carolina University, the Chanticleer Intelligence Brief (CIB) launched its Language Officer program. CIB/ILRC Language Officers are tasked with mentoring CIB members with regional and/or topic-based interests that require linguistic, intercultural, and topical familiarization. Language Officers also act as language ambassadors in the CIB, by distributing news and information about language resources and activities among their peers.

Charles Alex Wiggins, a dual Business Administration/Accounting and Finance major with a strong interest in Mandarin Chinese, is serving as the CIB/ILRC Language Officer for spring 2024. In addition to his major degrees, Alex is completing minors in Mathematics and Chinese, and is preparing to spend the summer of 2024 in Taiwan, having secured a prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship from the United States Department of State.

Alex joined the CIB in the spring of 2023 at the encouragement of fellow students with an interest in intelligence and languages. When asked about his impression of the CIB, Alex says he loves “getting an opportunity to practice applying real analysis weekly. It is like working a muscle; the more you flex and use it, the stronger and stronger it becomes. He contends that “the CIB is, without a doubt, one of the best organizations on CCU’s campus”.

This semester, Alex will be focusing on the security of maritime trade in the South China Sea. “Maritime trade is estimated to represent a much as 90 percent of total global trade, while the South China Sea region represents roughly one-third of that trade”, says Alex. Given the uncertain state of the world, maritime trade is susceptible to a variety of geopolitical upheavals. “Understanding and forecasting trade flow can help us understand the spillover effects on the rest of the world”, he adds.

Such spillovers could directly affect the national security of the United States. That is precisely what happened during COVID-19 shutdowns. “Four years after COVID-19, we still feel the pandemic’s lasting effects on our economy”, notes Alex. He cautions that, in the current geopolitical landscape, with growing geopolitical tensions in Southeast Asia, the possibility of crises involving interstate warfare should not be ruled out. Such developments would represent “a threat to the allies of the United States in the region and, by extension, the national security of the United States”, he concludes.