“Governance in Russia is a one-man show.” Countless attempts have been made to kill off the claim. Vladimir Putin is not ‘a cross between Joseph Stalin and a Bond movie villain’, nor does he command a ‘well-oiled machine’ of governance with ruthless efficiency. For those commentators who think that politics in Russia is about more […]
Australia is often blamed for putting all its eggs and everything else into one basket then shipping the lot to China. Those who worry about Beijing’s resultant leverage over Australia may feel vindicated after the travails of 2020 and 2021, but the trade war rooted in geopolitics hasn’t net-net hurt the Australian economy or its […]
Given strong public support for the Conference on the Future of Europe, failure to make at least some strides toward developing a shared European vision would amount to a major missed opportunity. Worse, it would discourage those who, for better or for worse, have allowed their expectations to be raised. Read Here | Project Syndicate
While the rise of China as an export powerhouse became evident at the beginning of this century, the story began earlier. Towards the end of the 1970s, China began a set of reforms to upgrade its economy and open up to the world. At that time, its share of global trade stood at less than […]
The Biden administration is in the midst of its comprehensive China policy review; it remains to be seen how its approach will compare with its predecessors. There are powerful reasons to sustain the One China policy, but equally powerful reasons to adapt it to meet the realities of today. Read Here | The National Interest
Cui Tiankai’s successor will need to reflect Beijing’s global ambitions while navigating its deepening feud with Washington. Qin Gang has been tipped for the position, but he was previously not considered a front runner. Read Here | South China Morning Post
Driving the drumbeat are strategic concerns shared with Washington, with possibly some personal ambitions thrown in for good measure. Canberra is seen responding to approaches by Washington to its allies in the Pacific, principally Japan and Australia, to add their weight more openly to the US deterrent… Read Here | Asia Times
The most striking geopolitical feature of the past four years has not been bipolarity or multipolarity—or even great-power conflict. It has been the spectacle of major economies pursuing self-sufficiency and a partial retreat from globalization… Read Here | Foreign Affairs
Data is now at the center of global trade. For decades, international trade in goods and services set the pace of globalization. After the global financial crisis, however, growth in trade plateaued, and in its place came an explosion of cross-border data flows. Measured by bandwidth, cross-border data flows grew roughly 112 times over from […]
Two new mega-projects connecting Central and South Asia could transform Eurasian security, significantly increase regional economic activity, and potentially bring peace at last to Afghanistan. But most of the world has so far paid little attention to important recent developments. Read Here | Project Syndicate
looking beyond borders 