Economist and political scientist Bill Emmott in conversation on the current era of renewed great-power competition.
Wednesday, 29. May 2024, 18:30 – 20:00 h
Live from the Studio
The discussion will address the disorderly times we are living through, in geopolitics, democracy, economics, migration, technology, climate and much else, and seek to identify what are the most important risks to think about, the most important preparations to make in anticipation of those risks, and what opportunities may also arise from this disorder.
We are in an era of great-power competition, which is in reality a return to the historical norm, but it is an era with an unusual characteristic. This is that all the countries we think of as superpowers – the United States, China, Russia and as an aspirant superpower, India – are showing weaknesses and fragilities. The discussion will explore what these weaknesses are, what their roots are, and what events in 2024 could shape the superpowers’ behaviour.
The result of these weaknesses is that amid often sharp hostility, no power is dominant, none is confident, and none is willing to collaborate fully with the others in institutions of global governance. The wars we see in Ukraine and Israel are both exacerbating this and revealing it: none of the powers looks able to exert itself to resolve these major conflicts, or the many others that are occurring around the world.
Bill Emmott is a writer and consultant best known for his 13 years as editor in chief of “The Economist” (1993–2006), a publication he first joined in 1980 and served in Brussels, Tokyo and London. He is now chairman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, of Trinity College Dublin’s Long Room Hub for Arts & Humanities, of the Japan Society of the UK, and of the International Trade Institute, an Irish-based educational body. He served on Swiss Re’s senior advisory panel from 2006–2019, is now Senior Adviser for Geopolitics at Montrose Associates, a Strategic Intelligence consultancy, and serves on the advisory board for Airfinity, a life-sciences data consultancy, and the Scientific Committee for the Centro Einaudi in Turin. He is also an Ushioda Fellow at Tokyo College and a trustee of the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin.
Mr. Emmott is the author of 14 books on Japan, Asia, the 20th century and Italy. His next book, to be published in 2024 by Taylor & Francis for the International Institute for Strategic Studies, will be entitled “Deterrence, Diplomacy and the Risk of Conflict over Taiwan”.