Abstract

Geopolitics arose in the 19th century, and throughout the 20th century it explained how the global power map was shaped. Power equations were formed by imperialism in the early part of the century; by the East–West divide and Cold War after the Second World War; and by the forces of globalization during the last decade of the century. ¹ Since the publication of the 1990 article by Edward Luttwak, ‘From Geopolitics to Geoeconomics’, the term ‘geoeconomics’ has been used quite frequently by writers and policy-makers. ² It is explained as ‘the intersection of economics and finance with global political and security considerations’. ³ Earlier it was thought that geoeconomics might replace geopolitics, but now it is accepted that ‘geo-economics recasts rather than simply replaces geopolitical calculation’. ⁴ In other words, geoeconomics ‘links the “big picture” with the practical realm of markets’. ⁵