One of the enduring puzzles about China is how a country of its size is actually governed. We often talk about “Beijing” as though it were a single actor with a coherent strategy, but behind every policy announcement lies an immense bureaucracy, competing incentives, negotiations across different levels of government, and millions of officials whose decisions ultimately determine whether central directives succeed or fail. Understanding China’s political economy therefore req

A couple of weeks ago, Manoj finished a new book called How to Win a Trade War: A Friendly Guide to an Unfriendly World. The title alone tells you something about the moment we’re living through—a world in which economic interdependence, once celebrated as the foundation of peace and prosperity, is increasingly seen as a source of vulnerability. Tariffs are back, sanctions are multiplying, export controls are spreading, and governments are subsidizing with remarkable enthusia

West Asia today finds itself in a deeply uncertain moment. A conditional ceasefire has held for months, but the war isn’t truly over. The Strait of Hormuz remains severely disrupted, even without large-scale fighting at sea. The United States and Iran still trade periodic strikes. Israel is still operating beyond its borders. Iran has suffered unprecedented losses. The Gulf states are increasingly divided. And Gaza, once the focus of the world’s attention, has slipped from th

When we talk about US-China competition, we often tend to focus on the obvious: trade, technology and Taiwan. But there’s a deeper question that doesn’t get enough attention. How does China actually think about fighting a war against a far more powerful adversary? PLA writings describe modern conflict not as something waged simply between militaries. Rather it is conceptualised as system against system—the whole national apparatus on one side against the whole national appara

There’s a quiet but unmistakable change taking place in Japan. For decades, Japanese politics was defined by caution. The country has a pacifist constitution. There has been managed ambiguity in its international engagements. Economic power existed without strategic assertion. But something is shifting beneath the surface. A new generation of conservative leaders is emerging. Public attitudes toward security are hardening. And Tokyo is beginning to think of itself not merely

In international relations, we obsess over great powers. What Washington thinks, what Beijing wants, what New Delhi will do next. We map their strategies, track their rivalries, debate their ambitions. And somewhere along the way, we forget that most of the world doesn’t get to play that game. For smaller states, great power competition isn’t theory. It is the quiet, constant reality that you must navigate a world that is being shaped by others. So how do these countries navi

How does China think about the world? We spend a lot of time trying to decode Beijing’s behaviour—its strategy, its ambitions, its moves on the global stage. But we rarely ask a more basic question: where does that thinking come from? What does it actually mean to study international relations in China? In this episode, Manoj Kewalramani speaks with Yaqi Li , an MSc candidate in International Relations at RSIS in Singapore. Yaqi, who grew up in China’s Hubei province, is som

We are living through a moment of tremendous transformation. The post-Cold War order is over, and what replaces it is not yet clear. What is clear, however, is that the two countries with the most power to shape that answer are the United States and China. How they manage their competition—in fact, whether they can manage it at all—is a defining question of our era. That question was tested last year, as the two sides skirmished over trade and technology. It will be tested ag

Over the weekend, renewed conflict in the Middle East was a stark reminder of how fragile the international order has become, and what happens when major powers begin to bend the very rules they helped create. For countries caught in between, the space for strategic comfort is shrinking. Nowhere is this tension clearer than in Europe’s relationship with China. Beijing’s rise is no longer a projection; it is a structural reality. From advanced manufacturing and green technolog

We often hear from Beijing that the world today is undergoing “changes unseen in a century,” and that opportunities and risks coexist. But what does the external environment actually look like from inside the Chinese system? If you were a policymaker or analyst in Beijing, how would you read the balance between threat and opportunity? In addition, who are the people that influence the thinking about China’s foreign policy? Is it entirely top-down? Or is there room for policy

In a world shaped by war in Europe, strategic rivalry with China, and growing uncertainty about the United States, the India–Europe relationship is quietly undergoing a major transformation. Once seen as slow-moving and largely transactional, ties between New Delhi and Brussels have accelerated dramatically over the past two years. On India’s Republic Day this year, the government hosted European leaders, led by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, as special g

The Horn of Africa has long been described as one of the world’s most unstable regions. But instability, as we know, is rarely accidental. It is often the outcome of history, geography, and politics colliding over time. From contested borders drawn at the end of colonial rule, to unresolved questions of statehood and sovereignty, the region has been shaped by incomplete state formation and recurring external intervention. Add to this competition over resources, ethnic fragmen

We are entering a dangerous phase in global politics, one where speed, force, and unilateral action are beginning to matter more than law, legitimacy, or restraint. Great powers are increasingly willing to test the boundaries of sovereignty. Just hours after this episode of The Great Power Show was recorded, the United States carried out a military operation in Venezuela, capturing President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The operation sent a troubling signal of h

We’re living through a moment of profound global churn. Trust in politics is eroding. Nationalism is surging. Great powers are retreating from the idea that the world can grow together. Instead, they are embracing zero-sum competition, technological supremacy, and national power as the primary source of legitimacy. In this episode of The Great Power Show, Manoj Kewalramani is joined by Pratap Bhanu Mehta , political theorist, public intellectual, and one of sharpest thinkers

Europe today finds itself at a geopolitical crossroads. From Brussels to Berlin, Paris to Warsaw, policymakers are grappling with a world order that is undergoing fundamental changes. At one level, there is a growing sense of clarity: Europe today sees a world shaped by intensifying great-power rivalry, fragile economic interdependence, and political currents that are tugging the continent in different directions. But beneath that clarity lies deep uncertainty. What role is t

Late in October, the Communist Party of China concluded the Fourth Plenary session of the 20th Central Committee. Plenums as critically important gatherings of the Party’s elite. This one outlined the vision for China’s overall development for the next five years. The nutshell version of the long document that was issued was that Xi Jinping’s leadership has taken China down the right path of development and amassing power. So, we should expect more of that—more continuity in

There’s a paradox at the heart of the India–Russia relationship. On one level, there are no direct conflicts of interest. In fact, at a moment like the present, when even trusted partners like the United States appear willing to coerce New Delhi, Moscow seems like a reliable friend. It remains a key defense supplier, and now also an important energy partner, offering deep discounts to keep its own economy afloat. And yet, there are growing limitations, and increasing costs, t

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