Three strange things from this week
It has been a busy week, so apologies for not peppering your inboxes.
I’ve written this week about the Thucydides Trap, which has received so much attention in recent weeks, months and years (mentioned by name, indeed, by Xi Jinping last month when he met Donald Trump in Beijing).
I note that rivalry between Athens and Sparta turned to confrontation not because great powers are destined to fight - but because of the actions of what we might today call ‘middle powers.’
You can read the piece I wrote for The Spectator here.
I also did an episode on the upcoming 'Godzilla’ El Niño for the BBC’s Global Story podcast. You can listen to that if you click here - it’s also on BBC iPlayer and will pop up on the World Service this week.
I’ve got three strange things for you this evening (if you’re in my time zone).
One is about very unusual goings-on in the oil market; another about an odd nuclear power deal; and the third is about a boost for malign cyber operations.
So in this post, I’ll spin through the Gulf and China; Central Asia; and South Asia for good measure. It is called ‘Global Threads’ after all….
Hope you’ll enjoy it.
First: oil and the China market.
