geoeconomics

The lab leaders want to slow down on AI. Someone needs to help them

Here is why ‘middle powers’ like Singapore may hold the key to coordinating the advance of AI

The US dollar is unique among global currencies in that its value is driven not just by supply and demand, but also by its structural power.

Will ‘Sell America’ end the dollar’s hegemony?

State and market-led pressure to de-dollarise could become mutually reinforcing, accelerating the erosion of the greenback dominance

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (left) and US President Donald Trump at the White House on Feb 13, 2025. The latest deal owes as much to the two leaders' relationship as to any systematic trade negotiation.

The US-India trade deal: Strategic reset or fragile truce?

The lack of details on the agreement makes it difficult to assess its true economic impact

US President Donald Trump (centre) unveiling "Project Vault" at the White House in Washington, DC, on Monday (Feb 2).
The US$12 billion critical minerals stockpile is aimed at minimising reliance on Chinese rare earths.

US-led critical minerals initiatives undercut by Trump

His recent moves against Greenland and Venezuela undercut the trust needed among allies to make such global partnerships work

Supporters of Venezuela's ousted leader Nicolas Maduro during a rally in Caracas on Feb 3. The US operation in Venezuela creates cognitive dissonance.

Fracas in Caracas: redrawing the lines

As the US’ advances in Venezuela move us away from rules-based geopolitics, where does the world order stand?

US President Donald Trump (left) with China President Xi Jinping at the Apec Summit in South Korea on Oct 30. Trump’s additional tariff on countries doing business with Iran could spark retaliation from Beijing, the primary purchaser of Iranian oil.

Fragile US-China truce threatened by tensions over Iran

Trump warns of Venezuela-style change in Teheran. How will Beijing react?

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's (left) meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping yielded a trade deal that signals Ottawa's strategic realignment.

Canada’s China gambit: Navigating a new geopolitical triangle

The trade deal between Ottawa and Beijing offers an early test of whether middle powers can chart their own course in an increasingly polarised world

Trump has given the world a glimpse of a future in which the US joins the ranks of the revisionist powers seeking to redraw the map through threats and force.

The world is hedging its bets

We will enter an age of terrible instability if new security, economic and political structures don’t arise before the old ones are hollowed out

The 2026 Davos theme is “A Spirit of Dialogue”, addressing issues from responsible innovation to investing in people in the age of artificial intelligence.

World Economic Forum 2026: Hope for ‘multi-bilateralism’

As the world fragments towards multiple poles, Davos holds out for a possible yet fragile new global economic order