Amir’s Reviews > Geopolitics for the End Time: From the Pandemic to the Climate Crisis > Status Update

"At four degrees of warming, corn yields in the USA are expected to drop by almost half... Contrary to popular expectations, it is not easy to move croplands poleward a few hundred miles. “Yields in places like remote areas of Canada and Russia, even if they warmed by a few degrees, would be limited by the quality of the soil there, since it takes many centuries for the planet to produce optimally fertile dirt.”"

"The crisis of capitalism would seem to point to the emergence or reemergence of the state as the main principle of order, but when we turn in that direction, we soon discover that the state has not been able to assert itself against the forces of globalization, and we start to suspect the existence of a hidden actor."

"To those who argue that the Covid-19 crisis exposes the failure not of the market, but of state structures, one possible response is that the state failed because of an economic system that permanently saps its powers and capacity... large multinationals are increasingly in charge and even governments are forced to behave like companies, small chinks in vast but fragile supply chains."

"There was a time when that liberal philosophy was taken seriously almost everywhere. Many of the independence movements in what used to be called the Third World fully subscribed to it, and used the language of human rights and the rule of law against the European colonizers...

"If a country as large as China wants to move closer to the center, it can only hope to do so by operating a series of changes akin to a worldwide revolution. That is the fundamental meaning of the Belt and Road."

"What the strategy argues is that the “two economies” must follow different rules. The domestic system is governed by a general imperative of efficiency, which is often pursued through competition between private actors. In the global system, however, efficiency is a subordinate goal. State power, national security and national greatness are much more important."

"“China is projected to dominate global semiconductor production by 2030, and in the meantime, current suppliers in Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, and elsewhere are in easy range of Chinese missiles, subversion, or air or maritime interference.” The conclusion is that Beijing is already in a position to threaten or disrupt the entire American defense supply chain, rendering the pandemic shortages minuscule..."

"Indeed, the limits to American power have only grown since the Iraq invasion—the Global Financial Crisis, the chaos of the Trump presidency and the current pandemic continued the process—and seem increasingly connected to the worldwide diffusion of technological power and the growth of rival economic blocs and ideological models...

"As a result of Covid-19, global foreign direct investment in the first half of 2020 declined by the largest amount on record. Inflows into the United States, usually the largest recipient, were down 61%; inflows into the European Union were off by 29%. In contrast, inflows into China were down only 4%, and monthly inflows have strengthened since."

"As for China’s economic presence in Europe, 2020 was a genuinely historic year: for the first time, China became the European Union’s main trade partner, taking the top spot previously occupied by the United States. Exports of European goods to China increased by 2.2% and imports went up 5.6%, impressive figures... with the EU exporting 8.2% less to the United States and imports falling by 13.2%."