🌐 The global balance is shifting. For decades, economists claimed trade would keep the peace—but what happens when the world’s two biggest superpowers weaponise trade against each other? 🇺🇸 vs 🇨🇳 Who really holds the power? Has globalisation created an economic ticking time bomb—where neither side can strike without risking total financial meltdown? And what about countries caught in the crossfire—like Australia?

Can smaller nations break free, or are they doomed to become pawns in the ultimate power struggle between Washington and Beijing?

These are the questions that will define our future.

They will decide who thrives, who survives, and who gets left behind.

Get ready for an epic discussion with Dr Jenny Gordon—economist, global strategist, and former Chief Economist at Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

In Part 1 of this explosive two-part series, we dive into the economic question of the century:
Can the world stay connected—or are we headed for a new era of economic warfare? Hit play and join the debate now! 🔥

About Dr Jenny Gordon

Dr Jenny Gordon is an economist specialising in international trade, economic development, public policy and the intersection between economics and strategic affairs. She is an Honorary Professor at the Australian National University, a Non-Resident Fellow at the Lowy Institute, and formerly served as Chief Economist at the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

Over a distinguished career spanning academia, government and public policy, Dr Gordon has worked extensively on trade liberalisation, economic reform, productivity, migration, climate policy, regional economic integration and Australia’s engagement with Asia. Before DFAT, she held senior positions at the Australian Productivity Commission, where she contributed to some of Australia’s most influential economic policy research.

Her work focuses on helping governments navigate complex economic challenges in an era increasingly shaped by geopolitical competition, technological disruption and shifting patterns of globalisation.

Selected Publications and Major Works

Books and Edited Volumes

Contemporary China: A New Superpower? (co-editor, with Ligang Song)
Rising China: Global Challenges and Opportunities (contributor)
China’s Domestic Transformation in a Global Context (contributor)

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Major Reports and Research

Australian Foreign Policy and Trade

Australia’s Engagement with the World: The Role of Trade and Economic Diplomacy
Australia and the Changing Global Trading System
The Future of Globalisation: Implications for Australia
Trade, Technology and Strategic Competition

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Britain’s Defence Secretary has resigned. NATO is transforming. Europe is rearming.
So is Britain 🇬🇧 still a serious power?

Against this backdrop, the recent resignation of Defence Secretary John Healey over the Defence Investment Plan has reignited debate over whether Britain is matching its ambitions with the resources needed to achieve them.

Show notes:

Professor Julian Lindley-French is one of Europe’s leading strategic thinkers and defence analysts. He is the founder of The Alphen Group, a Distinguished Fellow at the Europe Center of the Atlantic Council, a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Statecraft, and a strategic adviser to governments, military institutions, and international organisations. A prolific author and commentator on NATO, European security, transatlantic relations, and defence policy, Professor Lindley-French is widely recognised for his expertise on the future of Western security and the evolving global strategic environment.

Selected Publications: Future War and the Defence of Europe; The North Atlantic Treaty Organization: The Enduring Alliance; Little Britain? Twenty-First Century Strategy for a Middling European Power; The New Geopolitics of Terror; The Oxford Handbook of War; and, most recently, The Retreat from Strategy: Britain’s Dangerous Confusion of Interests with Values.

Julian’s article Critical Defence Theory -
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/critical-defence-theory-professor-dr-julian-lindley-french-urjde/

UK Defence Secretary John Healey resigned on 11 June 2026, warning that Britain’s Defence Investment Plan lacked the funding needed to meet growing threats from Russia, the Middle East, and wider global instability.

UK Strategic Defence Review -
The UK’s 2025 Strategic Defence Review is the most ambitious defence overhaul in a generation, committing Britain to a “NATO First” strategy and a return to warfighting readiness” in response to what it describes as a new era of global threats.

The Defence Investment Plan -
This is the financial blueprint intended to turn Britain’s Strategic Defence Review from strategy into capability over the next decade.

Overton Window -
The Overton Window describes the boundaries of acceptable political debate. Successful politicians often don’t change public opinion directly—they shift the window of what the public considers possible.

Mixed Economy -
A mixed economy combines free markets with government intervention in key sectors such as healthcare, infrastructure, education, and national security. By contrast, neoliberalism generally favours lower regulation, privatisation, free trade, and a reduced role for the state in economic activity.

Telstra Sale -
In the 1997-98 financial year, shortly after the first share sale, Telstra recorded revenue of AUD17.3 bilion & after tax profits of more than AUD 3 billion. Before its sale, Telstra was a government entity.

Qantas -
At the time of sale, Qantas had an operational profit of AUD 250 million. It had debt based on the fact that airlines require expensive aircraft, complex logistics, maintenance regimes and infrastructure. But it was operating profitably under government ownership.

In March 2025 -
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) sent a small naval task force to the Tasman Sea and conducted live fire exercises, forcing trans-Tasman airlines to re-route. It then went on to circumnavigate Australia. This deployment demonstrated the PLAN’s capability to conduct long-range operations.

Structurally -
The People’s Liberation Army, while improving its external war-fighting capabilities, has its primary mission as regime survival - the defence of the CCP.

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