Is space mining the short and long-term future for energy and industry? Nowadays, this question is rooted in the rapid development of the industrial, financial, technological and legal apparatus around the idea of mining asteroids. For example, on 6 January 2015, the US President, then Barack Obama, signed the US commercial space launch competitiveness act. …
Continue reading “Space Mining, Artificial Intelligence and Transition?”
With this series, trying to understand the possible futures of the US dollar supremacy, we have analysed the currency functions (medium of exchange, store of value, unit of account) that make the dollar the necessary currency together with the challenges looming over the petrodollar system, the perspective of the renminbi as a leading international currency and the possible impacts of cryptocurrencies over the international monetary system. We shall now outline the main lead scenarios (and eventual sub-scenarios) regarding the future of the US dollar supremacy, out of the corresponding set of scenarios covering the whole range possibilities for the future. In the next article, we shall focus our attention on the scenario we deem more interesting in the way it would …
Continue reading “Scenarios for the Future of the US Dollar Supremacy”
The United Arab Emirates is shifting rapidly towards the artificial intelligence revolution. This shift is expressed by numerous decisions taken by the highest U.A.E. political authorities. For example, on 16 October 2017, the Sheikh Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice-president of the U.A.E. and ruler of Dubai, appointed Omar Bin Sultan al Olama as minister …
Continue reading “The U.A.E. and the Artificial Intelligence and Sustainability Revolution”
In 2015, on the eve of his first state visit to the UK, the Chinese President Xi Jinping praised the “visionary and strategic choice” of the British government and its will to build a “golden era” of Sino-British relationships (“Xi Jinping visit: UK-China ties will be lifted to new height”, BBC News, 20 October 2015). …
Continue reading “China and the United Kingdom “Golden Relationship” on the Belt and Road”
In this article, we shall analyse the drivers behind the rise in cryptocurrencies’ value and market capitalization and start envisioning future evolutions, focusing notably on Bitcoin and blockchain technology. Previously, we explained what is a cryptocurrency and highlighted the possible revolutionary impact of blockchain, the technology underlying the majority of cryptocurrencies. We, meanwhile described the …
Continue reading “Blockchain, not Bitcoin, the Next Game-Changer?”
Massive geopolitical changes are occurring in the Arctic, because of the rapid warming of this region due to climate change. These geopolitical shifts are particularly important in the Russian Arctic Exclusive Economic Zone, which spans from the Bering Strait to Norway, along the Siberian coast. This is where Russia develops the North East passage known …
Continue reading “The Russian Arctic, China’s (Digital) Development and Northern Europe”
This article focuses on the Russian part of the mammoth space cooperation developed between Russia and China and potential geopolitical impacts. This cooperation is further reinforced by the agreement signed the 1 November 2017 that involves six space-related areas, such as lunar and deep space, joint spacecraft development, space electronics, Earth remote sensing data and space debris monitoring (“China, Russia agree cooperation on lunar and deep space exploration, other sectors”, Global Times, Nov 02, 2017). The Chinese part was addressed in the first article of the series. This Sino-Russian cooperation is a de facto synergy about a new definition of industrial and strategic power. Indeed, space industry evolutions as well as the convergence of Chinese and Russian artificial intelligence strategies added to robotic development …
Continue reading “The Chinese-Russian Robot and Space Strategic Cooperation (2) – Russia”
This article explains further what a cryptocurrency is, with the examples of Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple, focusing on the most common underlying technology, the blockchain and its implementation. It underlines commonalities and differences between the three cryptocurrencies, starting highlighting their potential advantages and dangers compared with classical international currencies. It notably singles out one of the main challenges characterizing the Bitcoin phenomenon: energy sustainability.
On 1 November 2017, Russian Premier Dmitry Medvedev and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang signed a mammoth deal in space cooperation. That agreement involves six space-related areas, such as lunar and deep space, joint spacecraft development, space electronics, Earth remote sensing data and space debris monitoring (“China, Russia agree cooperation on lunar and deep space exploration, other …
Continue reading “The Chinese-Russian Robot and Space Strategic Cooperation (1) – China”
The Red (Team) Analysis Society was featured in a very interesting article, “A New Era without Certainties” (Uma nova era sem certezas), by Portuguese author and journalist Jorge Nascimento Rodrigues, published in the December 2017 edition of the business and economy magazine Exame (group Expresso). Among other references, a detailed interview of Dr Helene Lavoix, RTAS Director, …
