Economy
The economy is an essential attribute of power and a major component of international relations. While geopolitical tensions are on the rise, economic interdependence remains strong.
Related Subjects
Impossible Decoupling, Improbable Cooperation: Economic Interdependencies in the Face of Power Rivalries
Export restrictions, economic and financial sanctions, politicization of monetary and financial choices, screening of inward and outward foreign direct investments, exceptional customs duties, and state interventions in sectors deemed strategic: the political vise is tightening around international economic and financial relations.
Racing to the Moon: China's Lunar exploration program in competition with the United States
A new Cold War-style race to the moon seems to be in the making. The People’s Republic of China and the United States are both investing in moon exploration with manned lunar scientific stations as the ultimate goal.
Towards a New European Trade Strategy in Times of Geopolitical Upheaval: The German Perspective
As one of the most successful trading blocs, the EU sees itself confronted with the erosion of the global rules-based trading system and trade becoming increasingly weaponized.
EU-Mercosur: An Unsolvable Trilemma Between Competition Rules, Normative Ambitions and Supply Chain Diversification
The EU-Mercosur trade deal was believed to be heading toward the finish. The election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as the president of Brazil, as successor to the right-wing populist Jair Bolsonaro, and the Spanish presidency of the European Union (EU), raised hopes for its conclusion. But the reservations expressed by several EU member states and some Latin American countries have dashed hopes.
The EU, the Indo-Pacific and the US-led IPEF: Which Way Forward?
The paper provides a European Union (EU) perspective on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).
Fiscal Policy in France and Germany: Insurmountable Differences?
The state of public finances in France and Germany is often compared. Germany is considered a model of rigor, through its ability to contain its deficits and generate surpluses, particularly between 2012 and 2019, thanks to the introduction into its constitution of a debt brake mechanism.
Between Inertia and Openness. Germany Reforms Its Labor Immigration System
With its new Skilled Immigration Act (Fachkräfteeinwanderungsgesetz) of 23 June 2023, Germany aims to become the country with "the most modern immigration law in Europe". A new points system and new entry rules for experienced workers having a degree from their home country demonstrate the willingness of the German government to open up its labor market to third-country nationals. While immigration law was already the subject of a previous reform in 2020, the new law is a real paradigm shift in Germany’s migration policy.
A framework for a Win-Win Europe-Africa Energy and Climate Partnership
North-South tensions are exacerbated at a time of unprecedented turmoil for both Europeans and Africans. European polycrises (geopolitical, energy-related and economic) echo the systematic vulnerability of Africans, which is reinforced by external shocks.
Energy sector: outlook and opportunities
The recent energy crisis has highlighted our economies' dependence on energy resources. With fossil fuels becoming less available, and a necessary transition to more decarbonised alternatives, could tomorrow's energy not become more expensive and less certain in availability?
Is International Climate Finance Unfair and Inefficient?
Finance is arguably the most sensitive climate negotiation topic. Different studies have shown that rich countries emit the majority of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while the climate footprint of the poorest countries is much more limited.
The European Battery Alliance is Moving up a Gear
French battery cell manufacturer Saft and Opel, the German subsidiary of automaker PSA Group, are finalising the details of a major investment project in battery cell manufacturing. Is the European Union (EU) finally challenging Asia’s dominance on battery cells production? What chances of success for the European Battery Alliance (EBA) and what implications for the EU industrial policy?
China’s Belt & Road and the World: Competing Forms of Globalization
China increasingly sees its flagship foreign policy project as a tool for restructuring global governance and a vector for promoting a new form of globalization.
Asia–Africa Growth Corridor at the crossroads of business and geopolitics
The Asia–Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC) — a Japan–India initiative to promote connectivity between Asia and East Africa and encourage joint projects in Africa — is often misrepresented. All too often, the AAGC is depicted as a political move aimed exclusively at countering China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Trade Wars: A French Perspective
The Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum announced by the United States in March would, if applied, have little direct impact on the French economy, but rather point toward a broader trend of protectionism and economic nationalism and a widening gap in transatlantic relations that is likely to have far-reaching implications for France.
Chinese Investment in Europe. A Country-Level Approach
Chinese investments in Europe have surged in recent years, becoming both a source of hope and growing concern across the continent.
Japan's Revived African Policy
By organising TICAD (Tokyo International Conference on African Development) for the first time in Africa in August 2016, Japan intended to accelerate and deepen its relationship with the continent.
The EU and Innovation: When Business Meets Politics
Innovation, entrepreneurship, growth and competitiveness go hand in hand. This short paper looks at two areas where the EU plays a role to help drive innovation: regulation and financing.
Agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in Atlanta. TPP and TTIP: Power Games in the U.S. Congress
Our analysis on the Agrement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in Atlanta: President Obama is now seeking approval from Congress. He might be getting more support from the Republicans.
Blaming El Norte: The Economic Realities of Anti-Americanism South of the Rio Grande
For more than half a century, Cuba captured America’s attention as a symbol of anti-Americanism right in its own backyard. As normalized relations between the United States and Cuba bring these iconic hostilities to a close, many wonder if Castro’s Cold War rhetoric is finally dead. Borne primarily by Venezuela and Ecuador, Latin America's anti-Americanism has in fact merely transformed into an equally aggravating but less consequential trend today. Economic dependency tempers this new thorn in the United States’ side.
Persistence and Evolutions of the Rentier State Model in Gulf Countries
A general economic model of understanding Middle Eastern states was elaborated by political scientists around the 1980’s, based on the concept of rent as a factor of wealth around which the economic model as much as the governance of energy-rich countries was re-organized. The particular case of GCC’s countries as rentier state has been at the cornerstone of this concept since they own the most important share of energy resources in the world.
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Related centers and programs
Geoeconomics and Geofinance Initiative
Economic questions are approached from a political economy perspective: the evolution of the global economic system, governance and institutions, dynamics and trends of various economic zones (United States, Russia, China, emerging markets...). European issues are at the core of our research.