While the West obsessed over ports, rails, and debt ratios, Beijing quietly shifted course. BRI 2.0 replaces concrete with code, building technological dependence that reshapes global power, standards, and geopolitical alignment
Beijing enters 2026 with unprecedented geopolitical swagger, flaunting economic resilience and technological ambition. Yet, as highlighted in the latest MERICS assessment of China’s trajectory, this polished narrative conceals a far more brittle domestic reality—one that could ultimately derail the country’s strategic ambitions
Vasilis Petropoulos explains how China’s hybrid influence in the Balkans and Eastern Mediterranean challenges Greece, the EU, and NATO, based on the new IIER report co-authored with Plamen Tonchev
Trump’s reported 28-point Ukraine peace plan has ignited global debate, raising questions about U.S. leverage, European resistance, and whether any settlement can hold amid a shifting geopolitical landscape
Imagine boarding a train in Lisbon and disembarking in Warsaw without changing lines. This is the EU’s latest dream of integration on rails, but it’s a vision threatened by staggering costs and familiar political hurdles
As Europe grapples with escalating energy costs and ambitious net-zero targets, Russia’s strategic pivot eastward to China, solidified by discounted gas deals, reshapes global energy dynamics
On November 1, 2024, Novi Sad station’s roof collapsed, killing 16. The disaster exposed deep social fractures and sparked political and geopolitical conflict, with Chinese influence at the heart of public anger
Is the proposed Türkiye–Spain “power corridor” a serious geopolitical vision or just regional posturing? A new narrative is gaining traction in Turkish media, but how realistic—and strategic—is it really?
Trump’s latest tariff threats have shipping giants scrambling like seasoned strategic masterminds, but instead of moving pieces across boards, they’re repositioning entire fleets while major European ports brace for August’s looming trade apocalypse
At the crossroads of commerce and conflict, Piraeus is more than a Mediterranean port—it’s a geopolitical juggernaut reshaping trade, power dynamics, and maritime innovation in a world racing toward digital and green transformation