Exploring a New Global Governance in the Changing Geopolitical Dynamics

The course will explore a new global governance amid changing geopolitical dynamics.

We are living amid the unprecedented change of the global order we got so accustomed to for so long time since the end of the second world war

The three fundamental risks we face today are;

First is the heightened geopolitical challenges. The US-China geopolitical rivalries expand to high-tech competitions for AI, Quantum Computing and Space Exploration, with semiconductors at the core of the competitions. The tensions between the superpowers have huge implications on supply chains resilience and business strategies of global companies. The Ukraine crisis heightened risks globally and in Europe in particular. It has an significant impact on the energy security and the road toward carbon-neutrality. The Ukraine crisis also revealed division between developed countries represented by G7 and emerging countries such as India and Indonesia and presented to us the critical questions on how we reconstruct a new global governance in the changing global landscape and power shift.

Second is the existential crisis. Achieving net-zero carbon economy and society is common goal for every country but strategies for achieving the carbon neutral goal differ depending on specific situations of each country. The realistic roadmaps to facilitate energy transition toward the net-zero are required. The Pandemic also reminded us of the importance of improving public health. In this context, global and regional cooperation are urgently required.

Third is macroeconomic instabilities. The supply chains shock caused by the Pandemic and geopolitical tensions called back inflationary pressures we have not experienced for a long time due to the success of the “Globalization Project”. Governments. Central banks and businesses need to be prepared for the new economic realities.

In these new global environments, in order to survive, we need to have acute sense and intelligence of what are happening in the globe and read signs emerging on the horizon. We also need historical perspectives in looking at day-to-day events.

The course will look into a variety of aspects of global political economy, including US-China tension, the Ukraine crisis, energy security and energy transitions toward carbon-neutral, changing power balance in the Indo-Pacific, entanglement of economic security with economic interdependence, free trade and the international trading system, and governance of digital economy.

The course will also discuss how middle powers in the Indo-Pacific such as Japan, Australia, ROK and South-East Asian nations are reacting to the changing geopolitical environments in the region.

It will also try to understand how business are transforming their global operations and promoting innovation to respond to the heightened geopolitical tension, supply chain risks and eminent common challenges such as climate change.

The objective of the course is to help participants understand and analyze issues relevant to the today’s world in the geopolitical perspectives. For this purpose, I will invite top class experts on each issue from around the world.

I presume the participants interested in this course aspire to chart their own professional careers in public service, international organizations, academia or global business and start-ups. My hope is to navigate the participants to think through their own choice for the future and prepare them with the basic perspectives.