As Washington’s leadership fades more quickly than anyone could have imagined and a new global order struggles to take shape, a generation of leaders has crowded onto the world stage with their own bold geopolitical visions for winning international influence. Xi Xinping has launched his trillion-dollar “Belt and Road Initiative” to dominate Eurasia and thereby …
Continue reading The Desire to be Grandmaster of the Universe
Totally under the radar of a news cycle consumed by the Pulp Fiction in Istanbul saga and the ever-mutating US-China trade war, leaders from no less than 51 Asian and European nations met in Brussels on Friday to talk about developing some measure of global stability. The day before in Brussels had been lost on …
Continue reading Leaders of Asia and Europe Sit Down for Talks, Not Sanctions
The G-20 in Buenos Aires on November 30 could set the world on fire – perhaps literally. Let’s start with the US-China trade war. Washington won’t even start discussing trade with China at the G-20 unless Beijing comes up with a quite detailed list of potential concessions. The word from Chinese negotiators is not at all …
One thing already seems clear in the Trump era: the world will not turn out to be the American president’s playground. His ultra-unilateralist, rejectionist policies on trade, the Iran denuclearization agreement, the costs of defense, and climate change are already creating an incipient anti-Trump movement globally (and in the United States as well). To a …
Pakistan currency faces a plethora of economic problems caused by decades of domestic mismanagement, a US led war on terror in which Pakistan’s supporting role has cost lives and money with not so much as a “thank you” paid back in kind and a global economic scenario wherein the currencies of virtually all developing economies …
Continue reading Pakistan Could be at the Heart of a New Pan-Asian Trading Order
The Turkish lira fell 22% on Friday before recovering to 17% on the backdrop of the Trump administration’s announcement to double the tariffs on imports of Turkish steel and aluminum. The tariffs affect Turkish exports worth more than $1 billion in trade with the United States. The US was the top destination for Turkish steel …
Continue reading US-Turkish Alliance Reaches the Point of No Return
Last week, mid-July, Trump threatened $500 billion in tariffs on China imports, escalating his prior threat to impose $200 billion on China. He then threatened hundreds of billion in tariffs on world auto parts imports, targeting Europe. But Trump’s threats and announcements do not constitute a trade war. Threats and even announcements of tariffs are …
Continue reading Will Trump’s Trade War Precipitate a Currency War?
Here we are in the middle of the second year of Donald Trump’s presidency and if there’s one thing we know by now, it’s that the leader of the free world can create an instant reality-TV show on geopolitical steroids at will. True, he’s not polished in his demeanor, but he has an unerring way …
Continue reading Five Financial Uncertainties of 2018 (So Far)
This year’s BRICS Summit was a big show. No question. The main event was provided by Turkish President cum Dictator Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan wants to a a “T” to the acronym, making them the BRICTS. Erdogan also made it very clear Turkey’s shift away from the West will proceed faster if the bullying and …
