Geopolitics & Power
France’s post-colonial footprint is shrinking fast, from the Sahel to the coast. Paris calls it a reset; juntas call it sovereignty. As Russia, Turkey, Gulf money, and China move in, the real test is whether anything replaces the parts that worked: intelligence, logistics, and state capacity.
Energy & Resources
Indonesia holds the world’s largest nickel reserves, critical for EVs. But export bans, foreign-led smelters, and local impacts show how “green” supply chains are reshaping power and the planet.
Tech & Industry
Industry 5.0 is not just about tech, but power. As machines and people integrate, the next industrial age reshapes who leads, who lags, and who controls the rules of production.
Energy & Resources
The Mekong ignores borders, but politics do not. Upstream dams, Cambodia’s canal plan, and rising salinity in Vietnam’s delta are reshaping regional leverage and exposing how climate risk now sets the terms of food and energy security in Southeast Asia.
Tech & Industry
AI is shifting from cloud servers to the devices in your hand. China is driving this move with Huawei and domestic chips, reshaping features, privacy, and prices. The geopolitics of on-device AI will decide what tools you get, and who sets the rules.
Tech & Industry
China’s next five-year plan will move AI from slogan to system — embedding it in factories, public services, and supply chains. The shift aims to boost productivity, reduce reliance on foreign tech, and shape how global markets and consumers feel the ripple effects.
Energy & Resources
Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam is more than a mega-project. It’s a test of sovereignty, a flashpoint for Nile politics, and a showcase of China’s growing role in the Global South.
Climate & Sustainability
At the Pacific Islands Forum, leaders sidelined both Washington and Beijing to focus on climate and cooperation. The Pacific shows how even small states can resist bloc politics — and why that matters in a fractured world.
Geopolitics & Power
Globalization hasn’t collapsed—it has fractured. Trade flows still grow, but under new political terms. Chatham House calls it “reglobalization.” Blocs are forming, swing states are hedging, and geopolitics is back at the center of economic life.
Geopolitics & Power
Modi’s visit to Tianjin for the SCO summit was more than optics. It underlined India’s strategy of poly-alignment, balancing China, Russia, and the West while navigating fragile borders and rising expectations.
Energy & Resources
Water, not oil, is becoming MENA’s defining resource challenge. Scarcity, desalination, and hard trade-offs are reshaping politics, economics, and daily life across Western Asia and North Africa.
Energy & Resources
High in the Andes lies nearly half the world’s lithium. How Latin America manages its reserves — between global demand, local politics, and sustainability risks — will shape the energy transition and test whether resource wealth equals real power.