The rules-based world order under pressure – challenges for the West and Switzerland.
Russia and China reaffirmed their ‘friendship without limits’ during President Putin’s recent state visit to Xi Jinping in Beijing. This deepened partnership and cooperation between the two great powers follows clear strategic interests. Mutual political support and growing economic exchange represent just one side of this partnership. On the other side, it aims at a much larger goal: the replacement of the rules-based (Western) world order that has shaped global politics for decades. Moscow and Beijing seize every opportunity to assert their influence in numerous countries and conflict regions.
The West, particularly Europe and the EU, driven by the idea of ‘change through trade,’ has watched this unfold passively for far too long. The USA, as the strategic rival of these two great powers, recognized the danger earlier and has tried to curb their influence and that of other autocratic states, with varying degrees of success.
The struggle for geopolitical supremacy is in full swing; ‘The change of history in real time’ has been closely observed over the past few years.
- What are the backgrounds for these geopolitical changes?
- How long can the prevailing rules-based world order be maintained?
- What does this mean for the West?
- What are the security and defense policy implications of these developments for the West, Europe, and Switzerland?
- What does this mean for the global economy and the well-being of individual countries and people?
These crucial questions are at the center of the 17th FSS Security Talks, to which we warmly welcome you.