Geoeconomic Competition – Details, episodes & analysis

In October, the Dutch government took over Nexperia, a Dutch chip maker owned by the Chinese Wingtech. The initial and main reason for the takeover was bad management. In the meantime, tensions between The Netherlands and China have escalated, a Chinese delegation visited Brussels and Trump and Xi met. To understand why this is so important and what is happening with Nexperia, Francesca Ghiretti has a chat with Juidth Huismans, Research Leader at RAND Europe's The Hague office. 

The 4th Plenum unveiled information about what to expect from China's 15th Five Year Plan (March 2026). Francesca Ghiretti chats with Gerard DiPippo, an Associate Director, RAND China Research Center and expert in China's economy to analyse what we can expect, clarify key point and untangle contradictions. 

This is the first episode of series on new "trade" deals and they are and will shape the global system. 

The UK has been the first country to strike a deal with the US after Washington imposed widespread tariffs. In this episode, Francesca Ghiretti unpack the UK-US "Prosperity Deal" its implication for the UK and what it tells about future similar deals with Sam Lowe, Partner at Flint Global and heads of trade and market access practice. 

In this episode, Francesca is joined by Henry Gao, Professor of Law at the Singapore Management University. The episode unpacks US tariffs against China, China's response and potential future responses and the impact on global trade.

In this episode, Francesca Ghiretti chats with Tobias Gehrke, Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and an expert in European economic security. The episode unpacks US tariffs agains the EU, EU response and potential future response and what may be in the EU's playbook.

The episode unpacks the EU Green Industrial Plan, Francesca is joined by Simone Tagliapietra, Senior fellow at Bruegel and Professor of Energy, Climate and Environmental Policy at the Catholic University of Milan and at The Johns Hopkins University - School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) Europe. We talk about the six pillars of the plan, path to implementation, challenges and the relationship with defence industrial policy.

In this episode of Geoeconomic Competition, Francesca Ghiretti talks with Philip Luck, Director of the CSIS Economics Program and Scholl Chair in International Business. He served in the Biden-Harris administration as the deputy chief economist at the U.S. Department of State. As the Trump administration keeps adopting new tariffs, we investigate what the are the main drivers of the US economic statecraft toolbox, and what may be future developments for tariffs and beyond.

In this special episode of Geoeconomic Competition, Francesca Ghiretti talks with Guido Alfani, Professor Economic History at Bocconi University in Milan and author of "As Gods among Men. A History of the Rich in the West". As 2025 brings new challenges, this unusual episode delves in some of the key questions of our time explored in the book such as how the rich historically helped their societies in times of crisis, why they no longer do, and what that may mean for social stability. 

In this episode of Geoeconomic Competition, Francesca Ghiretti talks with Emily Kilcrease senior fellow and director of the Energy, Economics, and Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), and co-host of CNAS' podcast De-risky Business. The episode dives into the details of the AI Diffusions Framework with an eye to the implication for US' partners. It unpacks the innovative elements of the framework, how they impact US partners and whether it may become a blueprint for future economic security measures.

In this episode of Geoeconomic Competition, Francesca Ghiretti talks with Dr. Deborah Elms, Head of Trade Policy at the Hinrich Foundation. The episode analyses the case and long adventure of Nippon Steel's acquisition of US Steel. Despite the lack of clear national security threats, the deal has been (temporarily) blocked by US President, Joe Biden. The episode analyses the importance of this case in the broader picture of how investment screening may be changing, the growing tension between national security and competitiveness and how the picture may change with the forthcoming Trump presidency.  

Link to book "Chinese investments and the economic security turn in Europe": https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/chinese-investments-and-the-economic-security-turn-in-europe