The Global Economy: Caught in the Storm / Politique étrangère, Vol. 91, No. 1, 2026
The global economy has become the primary arena for the clash of power ambitions in a world where understanding, coordination, and concerted multilateralism seem to have been permanently marginalized. In this fragmented landscape, how will American and Chinese strategies interact? Will the European Union manage to break out of its decades-old framework in order to face new competition? And will it be able, like others, to integrate the announced shift from a production economy to a digital, information economy? And what role will financial institutions, and central banks in particular, play in this transitioning international economy?
The pressing challenges of the present day should not, however, cause us to forget some decisive markers. What does the widespread reduction in development aid tell us about our conception of North/South economic relations? Beyond the daily political debates, are we fully grasping the scale of the problems posed by large-scale migratory movements, which, incidentally, do not primarily concern Europe? Half a decade after Covid-19, have we made any progress in developing measures to combat infectious diseases? In Africa, the Middle East, and Ukraine: what lessons can we learn from the latest armed conflicts to help us shape the world of tomorrow?
This issue is available in French only: Économie internationale: la fin d'un monde ?
THE GLOBAL ECONOMY: CAUGHT IN THE STORM
The Global Economy in the Face of Geopolitical Upheaval, by Norbert Gaillard
From Trump to Xi Jinping: Globalization's Great Rupture, by Sébastien Jean
The European Union: A Lagging Economy and a Software Update, by Sébastien Maillard
Digital Revolution, Economic Upheaval, by Hugo Le Picard
What Can Central Banks Do?, by Christian de Boissieu
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Official Development Assistance in the Age of Deglobalization, by Jean-Michel Severino
Migration: The European Union's Dilemma, by Didier Leschi
India-United States Relations under Threat from Trump II, by Jean-Luc Racine
Germany: The Return of Military Service?, by Paul Maurice
BAROMETERS
Sudan in Search of an Unlikely Peace, by Roland Marchal
Israel and the New Middle East: Between Normalization, Deterrence and Messianism, by Jean-Loup Samaan
Ten Years On: Brexit Up for Debate, by Marie-Claire Considère-Charon
REFLECTIONS
Why Russia Wages War, by Bernard Chappedelaine
The Sahel: The Operational Legacy of Barkhane, by Tewfik Hamel
Eradicating Infectious Diseases: A Multilateral Utopia, by Antoine Flahault, Johanna Elbel and Agnès Buzyn
BOOK REVIEWS
Editor: Marc Hecker
Climat. Les énergies de l'espoir, by Cédric Philibert
From Crisis to Action: Climate Change Through the Eyes of the Most Vulnerable, by Abena Takyiwaa Asamoah-Okyere, Christina Natalia Widjaja and Tim Smedley
Économie de l'(in)action climatique, by Christian Gollier
Reviewed by Christian de Perthuis
248 pages. 23 euros.
March 5th, 2026.
Diffusion : Pollen/Dif'Pop.
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The Year He Woke
Vikas Swarup, an Indian writer and former diplomat, is the author of four novels, including Q & A (New York: Doubleday, 2005), which has been translated into 47 languages and adapted for the screen under the title Slumdog Millionaire.
Text published in Politique étrangère, Vol. 91, No. 2, 2026.
War and Technology: An Approaching Military Revolution?
Historically, technological change has altered how battles are fought but has not overturned the fundamental principles of war. However, three considerations may now represent an actual revolution: the recourse to tactical nuclear weapons, the development of software for “multi-domain operations,” and the prospect of general artificial intelligence. The organization of militaries and the use of force need to be rethought in this light.
War and Technology: An Approaching Military Revolution?
Historically, technological change has altered how battles are fought but has not overturned the fundamental principles of war. However, three considerations may now represent an actual revolution: the recourse to tactical nuclear weapons, the development of software for “multi-domain operations,” and the prospect of general artificial intelligence. The organization of militaries and the use of force need to be rethought in this light.
The Crises Testing Arms Control
The arms control system built during and after the Cold War is under enormous stress and is fraying at the edges. It once enabled significant improvements in international security but is in danger of not withstanding the resurgence of tensions in recent years. Urgent action is now needed to prevent the proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, as well as cluster bombs and anti-personnel mines.