If Le Pen wins
There is a serious possibility that Marine Le Pen could win the presidential election in France in spring 2022.
Global Spectator
From Afghanistan to China: the pathology of victory
This year the war in Afghanistan will come to an end, in a phase involving both the US and NATO, following the withdrawal announced by Biden.
The fall and stagnation of the global middle class
Among the destructive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, one is the worldwide decline of the global middle class, except in China.
US-EU: political convergence, economic divergence
The political and geopolitical convergence between the US and the EU is becoming evident. But economic divergence may be emerging.
Myanmar, a coup of the digital age
The coup d’état being perpetrated by the army in Myanmar has made use of more advanced –imported– technologies in pursuit of its opponents.
Containers: essential but more expensive
Standardised containers have become an essential component of modern globalisation, carrying by sea almost half the world’s trade.
The global agenda: immunising the world
A new brand of wholesale global cooperation is required, both for vaccines and for treatments. Global governance has failed.
Economic patriotism: understandable but dangerous
The economic patriotism is not new, but it has re-emerged since the pandemic alongside a new prudentialism, protectionism and nationalism.
China, the US and the EU: three ways of confronting Big Tech
Europe, the US and China seem to be engaged in an apparently similar tussle with Big Tech, albeit with significant differences.
The alliance for democracy must start at home
The idea of an international Summit for Democracy takes on more urgency, although not necessarily effectiveness.
Four years on: the world has changed for Biden (and for everyone)
The world has changed in various important ways which Joe Biden, as the new US President, will need to take on board
The power of resilience
The pandemic is showing that resilience has to do with the strength and flexibility of the institutions, the economy and the society.