Global politics and commerce have long been centred on major basins, starting with the Mediterranean, then shifting to the Atlantic and later the Pacific oceans. In recent years, the Indian Ocean has emerged as the focus of a new geopolitical competition and a realm for promoting ‘South-South’ trade and investment, especially between China-India and Africa. [Read more...]

As China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) celebrates its 60th anniversary today, one thing we can be reasonably sure of is that it will expand dramatically over the coming decades, as the country seeks to protect its global supply chains and become a world power.

China’s economy has become more open to international trade over the [Read more...]

I note with some surprise that since Risk Watchdog launched last July, I have never dedicated a post to India. Therefore, I see no better time than the beginning of India’s mammoth general elections to address this shortcoming.

Lest anyone forget, India is the largest democracy on Earth, and along with China, one of two emerging [Read more...]

Last Saturday was a sad day for world trade, with Somali pirates seizing a Saudi-owned tanker carrying US$100 million worth of oil. The Sirius Star was hijacked 450 miles off the coast of Kenya, becoming the largest vessel ever hijacked.

If you thought that piracy was the stuff of old swashbuckling tales, think again. Indeed, [Read more...]