Exploring a New Global Governance in the Changing Geopolitical Dynamics

The course will explore a new and emerging global governance amid changing geopolitical landscape.

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 fundamental challenges to the global governance are;

First is the heightened geopolitical challenge. 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 War in Ukraine heightened risks globally and in Europe in particular.

Second challenge is the power shift in the international political economy.Emerging countries such as India and Indonesia are now economic drivers of global growth and their voices in the global politics are increasing heard. In the meantime, the relevance of the Bretton Woods institutions such as the WTO is fading.

Third is our existential challenge. 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.

Fourth is supply chains resilience and rule-based international and regional economic order. The supply chains shock caused by the Pandemic and geopolitical tensions reminded us of the necessity to sustain resilient supply chains we have taken for granted for so long due to the success of the “Globalization Project", Bretton Woods System. Governments 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.

The course will look into a variety of aspects of global political economy, including US-China tension, energy security and energy transitions toward carbon-neutrality, changing power balance in the Indo-Pacific, entanglement of economic security with economic interdependence, digital economy and the international trading system, international environmental policy and risk management for global business.

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.

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.

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 and knowledge.

The course will be structured; the first half of the semester will be dedicated to the briefings by the esteemed experts on individual areas. The second half of the semester will be allocated to the presentation sessions by the students participating in the class. Students can choose a topic relevant to the background mentioned above.