April 17, 2012
In an intelligent and highly readable essay, Fareed Zakaria, a close Obama adviser, analyses the fundamental changes in the distribution of power in international affairs, away from US dominance. He claims that what we are witnessing today is one of geopolitics’ “tectonic power shifts”, the third in the last five hundred years in order of… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
April 10, 2012
One of the key issues in IR & geopolitics is that of hegemonic transition. In the space of only thirty years, the world as we knew it has gone from bi-polar (international affairs dominated by the USA and the USSR) to unipolar (with the US as the only superpower left), to what is now a… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
The 20th ASEAN summit took place last week in Cambodia. It ended after two days with a Phnom Penh Declaration, which basically reiterates the members’ commitment to establishing the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015. The summiteers were greeted in the capital’s Peace Palace by huge billboards depicting the smiling faces of the Chinese president Hu… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
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, ASEAN, Asia, China, Japan, trade bloc |
April 6, 2012
If we are to believe Ian Bremmer of Eurasia Group and David Gordon, former director at the State Department, we have been living – for a number of years now – in a leaderless world, after decades with the US at the helm.. For the two specialists in geopolitics and geo-economics, as well as for… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
March 20, 2012
International military analysts have recently pointed out that military spending in Asia has increased to 262 billion euros in 2012. The amount could overtake the EU’s own military spending in the near future, possibly as early as next year. Smaller military budgets, however, are consistent with the EU’s new focus on soft power and diplomacy,… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
January 28, 2012
The Defense Strategic Review (DSR) released by the Pentagon on the 5th of January 2012 summarises the Obama Administration’s geopolitical agenda and strategic priorities. From it, experts can discern which country is considered the new enemy of the USA, although President Obama’s speech on the occasion does not mention China by name. In France, the… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
January 20, 2011
Cleaning up the debris of the 2007-2008 Great Recession is not a job for the fainthearted. It’s enough to look around us to realise that the task is herculean, as it involves efforts similar to cleaning Augias’ stables. Dealing with toxic assets, implementing harsh and unpopular austerity measures, avoiding currency and trade wars and increasing… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
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, China, E.U., geoeconomics, USA |
November 17, 2010
For a few months now we are bombarded with news about an impending currency war as a result of the Chinese reluctance to allow their currency to appreciate against the dollar. The US, as the promoter of the latest round of China-bashing, has even enlisted the help of some of the EU’s high representatives. Not… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
November 15, 2010
During President Obama’s 10-day tour of Asia, he found it opportune to use the State Department’s latest sound-bite, “democracies vs. authoritarian states”. To be sure, premier Singh, an economist, knows why the size of the Chinese economy is four times that of India’s. Alas, democracy is not a contributing factor. After all, the Asian tigers… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
November 9, 2010
The US Federal Reserve’s second round of quantitative easing has prompted near-universal condemnation by the financial leaders of Germany, China, Brazil, the ASEAN and the EU. From The People’s Daily to Der Spiegel, newspapers are full of criticism and dire predictions of an impending international currency war, which is bound to result from the flooding… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
