Strategic Trends 2019

Strategic Trends 2019 offers a concise analysis of major developments in world affairs, with a focus on international security. In the first chapter, Jack Thompson considers the consequences of the Trump administration’s new approach to trade policy. In his view, the United States is powerful enough to extract trade concessions from all of its trading partners, and there may be some short-term advantages in following such a course of action. In the second chapter, Michael Haas examines the shift between the West and non-Western states in the field of defense technologies. He argues that Western policymakers should act on several fronts to slow the process, while also adapting to a world in which they no longer enjoy substantial military-technological superiority. In chapter three, Jeronim Perović considers the emergence of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), a surprisingly robust multilateral organization of post-Soviet states, which is not a Russian puppet, and which cooperates in economic, political, and military matters. Finally, in chapter four, Lisa Watanabe looks as Russia’s re-emergence as a power broker in the Middle East and North Africa, with a focus on countries of particular interest to Europe when it comes to security issues, economic ties, and immigration.