Multipolarity
Multipolarity
Charting The Rise Of A Multipolar World Order
Philip Pilkington is an unorthodox macroeconomist.
Andrew Collingwood is an equally skeptical journalist.
Lately, both have realised that - post-Ukraine, post-Afghanistan withdrawal - the old, unipolar, US-led world order is in its death throes.
In its wake, something new is being born. But what shape will that take? That will depend on a combustible combination of economics and geopolitics; trade and military muscle.
Each week, our duo take three off-radar news stories and explain how each is shaping our multipolar reality.
Philip Pilkington is an unorthodox macroeconomist.
Andrew Collingwood is an equally skeptical journalist.
Lately, both have realised that - post-Ukraine, post-Afghanistan withdrawal - the old, unipolar, US-led world order is in its death throes.
In its wake, something new is being born. But what shape will that take? That will depend on a combustible combination of economics and geopolitics; trade and military muscle.
Each week, our duo take three off-radar news stories and explain how each is shaping our multipolar reality.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jan 25, 2023 • 52min
Special Edition: Brazil and Argentina form a currency union
Latin America's giants have come together. The Brazilian Real and the Argentinian Peso are to be joined together in a prospective currency union - or at least a “regional unit of account". The prospect of one of the world's most consistent debt defaulters coming together with the often chaotic Brazilian economy has been greeted by some European economists as 'a terrible idea'. But as Philip Pilkington argues, the upsides of controlling inflation make this a very different prospect to the growth-crushing Euro. Meanwhile, Andrew Collingwood is just as interested in what this means for US hegemony over the region. Is the so-called Monroe Doctrine dead? Or will America retaliate, if this tiny seedling eventually sprouts? Whichever way this goes, it seems that getting off the US Dollar is becoming more feasible for emerging economies. We've ripped up the week's agenda to focus on currency unions: considered dead ten years ago, are they making an unlikely comeback?
Jan 18, 2023 • 46min
The WTO Crumbling, Mining's Green Moment, China Goes Gaucho
Andrew Collingwood and Philip Pilkington soldier gamely on in the second episode of Multipolarity - charting the rise of the new multipolar world order. This week: A new report suggests the Chinese might be about to bankroll a naval base in Argentina. As the green revolution takes hold, can the West even build the supply lines for the huge quantities of metals and minerals we’ll need for all those EV batteries? And: is the World Trade Organisation crumbling? The Wall Street Journal seems to think so...
Jan 10, 2023 • 52min
1. The Golden Whale, 2023 in Crystal Balls, All the Chips in China
Philip Pilkington and Andrew Collingwood christen the pod by hashing over some of the week's biggest geopolitics stories. Just who is the enormous whale biting chunks out of the global gold market?Is China about to find a way to leapfrog the US advantage in high-end silicon chips? And then: most pundit predictions for 2023 seem to involve a minor recession - but are those analyses even over the target?
