#Geopolitical #fragmentation is impacting global trade routes, increasing #carbon #emissions and #economic instability.
Middle powers are leveraging their positions to navigate geopolitical tensions and pursue economic interests.
2024 sees major elections worldwide, with misinformation posing a significant threat to democratic processes, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report.
At times, 2024 has felt like a pivotal moment as the balance of world power appears to tilt on its axis. Conflict, #trade tensions and economic turbulence are contributing to a more uncertain geopolitical global framework.
The World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on the Future of Geopolitics has framed this shift as “a new, more contentious geopolitical era … with the possibility that a once stable and cooperative order is being replaced by a more turbulent and fragmented global landscape”.
As this geopolitically impactful year unfolds, here are five things you need to know about a shifting global order.
1. Democracy put to the test
Adding to the sense that a significant global moment is evolving is the fact that around a quarter of the world’s adult population is eligible to vote in elections this year.
This article highlights the opportunities and risks in a year when so many elections are taking place. The threat from #misinformation and #disinformation emerged as the greatest risk in the Forum’s Global Risks Report 2024, with the potential to destabilize the electoral process in multiple countries.
2. The rise of the middle powers
As global trade routes and supply chains rapidly realign, countries with the ability to straddle geopolitical fault lines can position themselves to reap the rewards. This article explains how so-called middle powers, or ‘geopolitical swing states’ are pursuing their domestic interests without picking sides.
India is leveraging its positive relations with both the #US and #China to drum up business and investment from both sides. Meanwhile, Gulf countries including Saudi Arabia are diversifying their economies and playing an increasingly visible role in shaping geopolitical relations across the region and beyond.
3. Geopolitical tensions accelerate carbon emissions
Since the Second World War, a stable global order has helped create supply chains that eased the flow of trade around the world. This article reveals how geopolitical friction leads to greater carbon emissions as nations try to circumvent blocks to free-flowing trade.
The effect of the conflict in the Middle East is having a serious impact on shipping in the Red Sea.
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