UNCERTAINTIES – Geopolitics, Digital, Risks

by Simon Chadwick | The report examines the background to Qatar’s hosting of the men’s World, the country’s preparedness to host the tournament, the event’s management, and the legacies. To conclude, the report highlights areas in which there could be issues for Qatari and FIFA World Cup organisers to contend with, at perhaps one of the biggest, but certainly one of the most controversial, sport mega-events ever staged.

International relations: does economics contribute to peace? With international tensions running high, Claude Revel argues in her Preface for “La Revue Diplomatique” that this is by no means a given. She calls for a return to politics and diplomacy to create a more peaceful world.

by David Fayon | The metaverse has been getting a lot of press coverage since the Facebook company changed its name to Meta a year ago. While nascent solutions were already available, such as Second Life, a 3D virtual world launched in 2005 when the term Web 2.0 appeared, virtual reality headsets, NFTs, blockchain technology, and faster internet speeds have reignited interest in the metaverse. But between fantasies, a new eldorado for brands and reality, what is the truth of the meta?

by Simon Chadwick | Football for the Russian government and its allies is merely the means to geopolitical ends, rather than an end in itself. Scoring goals is only of secondary importance to the power and influence that investing football can bring.

Claude Revel, Director of SKEMA PUBLIKA and Rodolphe Desbordes, Professor of Economics at SKEMA Business School discuss the use of Big Data by public authorities. How can Big Data help design public policies for the common good? How can we develop an international data ethics? What measures should implement to avoid falling into a surveillance society?

by Claude REVEL | Between companies but also between States, harnessing AI has become an economic, political, and even a geopolitical power game. Public and private competitive strategies are challenged by AI at all levels. And yet, to date, the omnipresence of AI does not seem to have been questioned by private and public decision makers. What promises does this instrument hold for the common and individual good? Is its extension to areas that are more sensitive for humans, such as decision making, advisable?

With inflation close to 10% and growth slowing, the British economy is dangerously close to recession. But the recent health crisis and Russia's invasion of Ukraine are only multipliers of economic damages already produced by Brexit. The lack of coherence in the policy mix implemented by Liz Truss' government and the lack of credibility of the stimulus plan are sending negative signals the markets. How can the UK government respond to record inflation, slowing growth, low business investment and the depreciation of the pound?

The devastating conflict raging in Ukraine since 24 February has turned into an all-out war in this country and is prompting an unexpected and risky geopolitical reshuffle of the European continent. This is because the agenda and interests of the European Union are perhaps not shared by NATO and the United States. Maintaining a strong stance against Moscow is necessary, but with the aim of negotiating to establish a lasting peace guaranteeing the stability of Europe.

States need timely, accurate, and granular data about their population to carry out effective policies. Big data can provide alternative and complementary sources of information to facilitate policymaking and foster economic development. While big data offer great opportunities, it also generates large technical, ethical and political challenges, which need to be confronted head-on by States within a new social contract.