When it was announced in 2023 that the African Union would become a full member of the G20, I darkly joked on a podcast that the AU’s entry into the body could very well mark the moment the G20 lost its status as one of the most important global coordination forums. Mark my words, I said, soon The Economist will be like “Uhhh, the G20 is OVER – it’s the ...
Category: Geopolitics
China Confronts the Limits of Its Critical Mineral Power
If you want to see where great-power competition is most visible today, look to the fast-growing world of critical minerals. What began as a technical supply-chain issue has become a central arena in which the United States and China are testing their industrial strength, geopolitical leverage, and ...
Presidential Race in Honduras Puts China–Taiwan Diplomacy Back on the Line
Sunday’s presidential election in Honduras could shift the diplomatic balance between China and Taiwan in Latin America. The two frontrunners in the election have pledged to break diplomatic ties with Beijing and reestablish them with Taiwan. This follows the ...
With Washington Absent, China Seizes the Stage at G20 in Johannesburg
Chinese Premier Li Qiang was very busy at this weekend's G20 summit in Johannesburg, where he seemed at ease that Donald Trump and the U.S. delegation stayed home, for the most part. There's no doubt that had Trump been there, the ...
Why the West Gets Vietnam Wrong: The Myth of Pro-U.S. and Pro-China Camps
Welcome to Myth and Misperception! It has never been more urgent to understand China’s relations with the Global South and how they impact the United States. Unfortunately, many observers in the West do not have a firm understanding of these relationships due to an absence of native ...
Chinese Premier Visits Zambia Amid Geopolitical Competition
Chinese Premier Li Qiang is in Zambia, the first high-level Chinese leader to visit the country since 2007. His trip comes as the country emerges from a years-long financial crisis Li’s visit comes as China, Zambia, and Tanzania embark on ...
Poll: China Makes “Startling” Gains as the World’s Preferred “Leading Power”
Favorable views of the United States have fallen sharply over the past year while perceptions of China have improved significantly, according to the findings of a new poll that surveyed 32,000 people in 32 countries. The survey was conducted for The ...
Nigeria and the U.S.-China-Geopolitics of a ‘Guns-a-Blazing’ Threat
The first few days of November delivered a powerful, if chilling, lesson in contemporary geopolitics for Abuja. When the U.S. President, Donald Trump, fresh from re-designating Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” for religious freedom violations, threatened to intervene militarily in the nation “guns-a-blazing” over allegations ...
U.S.-China Tensions Weigh on Lisbon’s Web Summit
By Daxia Rojas and Tom Barfield Global tech leaders packed Lisbon's annual Web Summit Tuesday to talk artificial intelligence, robots and startups -- all under the shadow of global tensions over cutting-edge hardware and software and the resources needed to build ...
Ukraine, China’s Critical Mineral Dominance, on Agenda as G7 Meets
By Marion Thibaut G7 foreign ministers gather in Canada Tuesday for meetings expected to focus on Ukraine and find consensus on a path forward to end the four-year-old conflict. Options to fund Ukraine's war needs ...
COP30 Marks China’s Growing Role in Scrambled Global Climate Landscape
Monday, 10 November, is the official start of the 30th UN Council of the Parties (COP) climate gathering. Taking place in Belém, on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, the meeting is highly symbolic of how the global climate landscape has changed since COP1, and how much ...
Chinese Scholars See Russia’s Venezuela Strategy as a Model of Hybrid Power Projection in the U.S.’ Backyard
As U.S.–Venezuela ties unravel, a new analysis by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), arguably the country's most influential think tank, claims Moscow is turning Caracas into a key foothold in the Americas: blending military power, energy diplomacy and "anti-hegemonic strategy" to challenge the U.S.
US Offers ASEAN Surveillance Help, Then Praises China Ties
The United States on Saturday told Southeast Asian defence ministers it is ready to share technology and information to help them watch Chinese activity in the disputed South China Sea and respond together to what it called Beijing’s “destabilising actions.” Hours later, US Defense Secretary Pete ...