Editorial: Is a European Super State closer at hand due to the war?

A wave of solidarity is bringing governments and people together in a form not seen on the continent for many decades – This will not last, but is a window Western leaders are likely to seize. Serious crises are what EU leaders need to advance the European Integration Process to a new level.

A more united Europe for now?

For years I have spoken at conferences to share my non-consensus forecast that I see an unprecedented convergence of crises forcing European nations to work together .. and eventually the rise of a European Federation. In 2018 I called it the coming European Super State.

I was scoffed at for saying this during the Euro debt & Greece crisis, while most experts talked about the breakdown of the EU and the end of the Integration Process. Our proprietary analysis has been pointing for years to a powerful crisis overlap in this decade .. overwhelming the current EU, but in turn increasing the political will to build a new structure. This may also flank President Macron’s vision of a European Army. A lack of military deterrent is definitely one of the reasons Europe failed Ukraine. A terrible crisis may does bring new life to the integration process. We have no political agenda, thus .. all of this was the outcome of pure analysis based on available evidence, data and history.

Still, it is in a way sad that only after the war broke out, our Western leaders began to say that values should matter. In fact we have also have been walking away from our values for many years. Some emerging markets say we have lost our moral compass and cannot therefore impose our rules on them.

Those who follow our independent research for more than a decade know ,I don’t mind experts & investors scoffing at my analysis. They did so when I told them the supply chain will collapse, Free Trade with autocratic nations will erode our security and bring wars back to Europe. 

The dismantling of our Armed Forces alongside Free Trade with autocratic states has been one the gravest strategic errors by Europe and the West in general since WW2. In fact this massive Free Trade has rewarded repressive regimes and made them stronger. Our political leaders and university professors told us that as we do more trade with dictatorships they will open up to democracy. I have opposed this flawed view since my years as graduate student at the economics faculty. 

The BRICS have overtaken the G7 – they see our excesses & want to shift away from us

Nevertheless, not all Emerging Nations are autocratic. Many of them are growing democracies like India, Indonesia and Brazil. These rising powers  simply see the West as a ticking bomb of bubbles and excesses. They  want to reduce their exposure to the West. Our debased currencies, our massive debt and huge asset bubbles are a threat to their economies. And they are right to some extent in their assessment. In a sense we, the West, have not been a good role model over the past 30-40 years. The best examples of fiscal-monetary discipline can barely be found among the rich G7 nations, they are found among some Emerging Markets. The fact that so many democratic nations with healthy macro policies are rallying behind China to contain the West (USD), shows how disappointed the world has become about the West in recent decades. Here, we need to be humble and think why the rest of the world wants to decouple from the West. To simply threaten them with sanctions is proving counterproductive, because the rest of the world now has more economic power than the West.

I’ll put it in simple terms: the BRICS with its allied Emerging Markets not only have the right to shift away from us, they now have the size, surpluses, savings and resources to build their own currency and banking system.

Reciprocity works better than ideology 

Ideology is not a good economic adviser. Neither is the idea of moral superiority, when our own moral values are in decline. It is still my humble view that a system of open trade that is based on reciprocity is the better approach in a highly fractured world on the brink of war. It is constructive and pragmatic. It gives time and space for autocratic, but also to over-indebted dysfunctional democracies (G7) states to change at their own pace. 

While we can find fault with China and Russia, the West has not been a good role model either to much of the world. What should make us think is .. why important democratic emerging markets with outstanding fiscal-monetary discipline are rather supporting China and not the West as the East and West increasingly clash. 

Western economies with ever less free competition

The answer lies in part in the decline of that which used to make the West so strong in the past: our moral values and our capitalism characterised by lots of competition. It is sobering: Simply to keep up excessive pretentious consumption and to make large corporations richer & bigger .. the West sold its soul, values, fiscal-monetary discipline and maybe its future. Not only have these gigantic oligopolies decimated free competition (the very essence of capitalism), they now de facto steer much of the political process in Washington, Strassburg and Brussels. In a sense the West and China have been on a convergence course for years. A convergence where the state and oligopolies/monopolies are taking over control.

At Geopolitical Research we help decision makers gain insight into what is underestimated by consensus. We have a balanced approach to analysis that takes into account Western and Oriental cultures & worldviews. Shedding light on consensus-overlooked areas helps decision makers better understand other stakeholders and even so-called enemies. We try to help reduce the risks of costly miscalculations. This also helps people discern the times we are living in. 

Old Editorial: EU to build own military & financial system ex USA

By Christian Takushi MA UZH Macro Economist – 28 Aug 2018 (delayed public release)

French President Macron has stated this week that Europe needs to build her own financial and security framework in order to be independent from the USA. He confirmed the repeated calls by German Chancellor Merkel for Europe to detach from the USA. Paris, Berlin and Brussels are now in agreement. Many are cheering that the EU is standing up to America.

The EU is on confrontation course with the USA, and the Anglo-Saxon world in a sense. This is something we have been warning of for years. Many would like to blame this on US President Trump alone  – a convenient, but somewhat misleading narrative. The USA and Europe have been on collision course for a long time. But despite the increasingly conflicting interests, political leaders on both sides of the Atlantic for over a decade continued to stress “the shared values” in public instead.

This  clash was coming. Europe has been embracing China and Iran … [Read more]

Former posts not to miss:

Geopolitical Update: A possible war with 2-3 fronts looms in the Middle East

Europe to become a Super State – More integration & power concentration is coming (Interview)

Geopolitical Update: Japan rearms and shifts to the right

Since 2016 our newsletter is consistently ranked among the 50 most reliable sources of geopolitical analysis worldwide

“After 45 years of a liberal Policy Mix, a multi-year process of Normalisation in Global Politics and Economics started in 2015. Fears of extreme isolation and protectionism by the USA and UK will prove overdone. We see rather a temporary correction towards the historical mean. This correction is unlikely to stop the secular trend of liberal globalisation and power concentration – The West is embracing a state-run economy model” By Christian Takushi MA UZH, 3 Dec 2016.

Many observers and analysts err in their view of the new US Supreme Court. Based on our independent analysis, we assess that the Supreme Court is less conservative than widely believed. On paper it is conservative, but the facto rather “centrist – conservative leaning” – often depending on the issues at stake.

LATAM – In China’s grip: Brazil, Peru and Chile

In the vacuum of US leadership in Latin America, Russia and especially China are growing their influence. The struggle between the super powers has shifted to Latin America. After consolidating her influence over Argentina, Venezuela and Bolivia, Beijing is now launching a concerted effort to bring the most capitalistic resource-rich economies (Chile, Peru etc.) under her influence. (Latest update only available to policy makers).

Eastern Europe: Turkey – Romania – Poland 

Since 2010 years we are predicting the inexorable Geopolitical rise of Turkey and the potential rise of Romania & Poland as European powers. While Turkey is rising thanks to Europe’s lack of strategic foresight, Romania could benefit greatly from strategic energy & military shifts. Takushi sees Bucharest lacking global strategic-geopolitical expertise though. In that sense, Warsaw is one step ahead. Nations will rise and fall based on their ability to capitalise on global strategic-geopolitical shifts. (Latest update only available for policy makers).

After years of researching Geopolitics and Macroeconomics, Takushi found that broadening Macro Research to include geopolitical factors improved the quality of the analysis. He thanks the many professionals and experts that are contributing to advance this research.

This new approach to Geopolitical Analysis is free of conspiracy theories, ideology and judgement: All nations pursue their national interests with all means at their disposal, just as corporations do. This is, in a way, an economist’s approach to political analysis. Applied at a global scale and aggregate levels, the Western linear-logical way of thinking is complemented by the Oriental circular worldview to improve results.

• 10 June 2016  IMD Lausanne, Executive MBA Program, The Future of the European Union
• 13 Jun 2017  CFA Society Switzerland in Lausanne – CE approved seminary (The coming Middle East Crisis)
• 7 Mar 2018  The European Super State & Middle East War – Swiss Investment Conference, Park Hyatt Zurich
• 25 Oct 2018  Geopolitical Trends in Asia. Headquarters of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) – Basel
• 15 Nov 2018  Geopolitical Risks & Opportunities in Eastern Europe – Zurich University for Applied Sciences’ investor conference
• 24 Jan 2020  IMD Alumni  Geopolitical Outlook: World Economy is vulnerable to Multiple Risks
• 18-19 Mar 2022  Malaga Business Conference: Global Geopolitical & Macroeconomic Trends
• 12-14 May 2022  UBP Investment Conference: Keynote Speech, Global Geopolitical Outlook
• 31 Jan 2023 Profond Investment Board – Geopolitical Macro Outlook for 2023

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