Big geopolitical crisis in 2018 could happen: Eurasia Group

Hong Kong

THE YEAR 2018 could see a geopolitical crisis on the scale of the financial crash a decade ago, Eurasia Group has warned in its annual outlook.

Describing global political challenges as "daunting," the New York-based political risk consultancy said the world is "now closer to geopolitical depression than to a reversion to past stability". It said the biggest uncertainty surrounds China's move to fill a vacuum as US influence continues to decline, stoking tensions between the two powers.

"In the 20 years since we started Eurasia Group, the global environment has had its ups and downs," Eurasia president Ian Bremmer and chairman Cliff Kupchan wrote in the outlook. "But if we had to pick one year for a big unexpected crisis - the geopolitical equivalent of the 2008 financial meltdown - it feels like 2018. Sorry.…