Geoeconomic Competition

On the 18th of December, the leaders of the EU will discuss the much debated reparation loan, a proposal to use the frozen Russian assets to finance the Ukrainian war effort. In this episode, Lucas Guttenberg, Director of the programme Europes Future at Bertelsmann Stiftung unpacks what the reparation loan is, how it works and why this decision is so important for Europe.

On 5 November, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral argument on the use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) by Donald Trump to impose sweeping tariffs. The decision, which is expected in the next few months, will determine the future of both Fentanyl tariffs as well as Liberation Day tariffs. The decision, however, will have much wider and deeper implications for Trump's wider approach to trade as well as the functioning of check and balances in the United States. Francesca Ghiretti unpacks the story with Geoffrey Gertz is a senior fellow with the Energy, Economics, and Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) and co-host of the Derisky Business podcast.

In October, the Dutch government took over Nexperia, a Dutch chip maker owned by the Chinese Wingtech. The initial and main reason for the takeover was bad management. In the meantime, tensions between The Netherlands and China have escalated, a Chinese delegation visited Brussels and Trump and Xi met. To understand why this is so important and what is happening with Nexperia, Francesca Ghiretti has a chat with Juidth Huismans, Research Leader at RAND Europe's The Hague office. 

The 4th Plenum unveiled information about what to expect from China's 15th Five Year Plan (March 2026). Francesca Ghiretti chats with Gerard DiPippo, an Associate Director, RAND China Research Center and expert in China's economy to analyse what we can expect, clarify key point and untangle contradictions. 

This episode is a deep dive into the details of the development of China's export controls, from 2022 to the updates of October 2025. Rebecca Arcesati is Lead Analyst, in the Science, Technology and Innovation Programme at MERICS. 

Francesca Ghiretti speaks with Jason Bedford, Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore. In his paper RARE EARTHS AND INDUSTRY: WHY DEPENDENCE ON CHINA ENDURES, Jason explores the details of China's REE leverage. In this episode, we unpack why the difference between heavy and light REE matters and stands at heart of China's ability to impose painful export controls. Apologies for the audio quality, I had a cold.

In this episode, Francesca Ghiretti hosts Alberto Rizzi, Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations' Rome office. In his policy brief "Markets, migrants, microchips: European power in a world of demographic change", he tackles an issue at the heart of European ability to compete economically. demographics. What's Europe's demographic situation? What are some best practices that exist in the world and in Europe that we should support and adopt? How important is to think about a serious and well-though migration and skilling policy? 

In this episode, Francesca Ghiretti hosts the leader of Project Lion Cage, Tor Indstoy and Arild Tjomsland. The project "explores how everyday connected technology—such as smart vehicles and IoT systems—could be exploited in future security crises". How do connected vehicles work? What type of data they collect and where are they stored? Can these vehicles be remotely hijacked? What are mitigating measures that can be adopted?A few highlights:- When it comes to Chinese made EVs, 90% of data goes to China (regardless of where the vehicles operate)- According ot US law, any data collection (including involuntary espionage) is responsibility of the car owner - Cybersecurity of many Chinese made vehicles is poor - it took Project Lion Cage's white hat hacker only four days to hack into the system

In this episode, Francesca Ghiretti chats with Iana Dreyer, Founder and Editor ot Borderlex, a magazine specialised in trade. With Iana, we try to understand the implications of the EU-China summit as well as the tariff "deal" between the EU and the US. We touch upon EU resilience and strategic autonomy and what are the options for the EU ahead. 

In this episode, Francesca Ghiretti chats with Stuart Dee, Research Leader and co-Director of the Centre for Defence Economics and Acquisitions at RAND Europe. Stuart joined RAND after spending over a decade in industry, most recently at Rolls-Royce plc where he was involved in a number of large defence programmes including Eurofighter Typhoon, the Future Combat Air System and AUKUS.In light of the recent NATO Summit in The Hague and the push across Europe for defence spending, the episode unpacks the relationship between defence spending and economic growth. What do we need for that relationship to work and what are the main challenges.