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The spread of COVID-19 is not just a health crisis. The pandemic has taken a geopolitical dimension. The health crisis amplified the competitive dynamics between the USA and China, affected the provision of global public goods and injected instability into the global order. In line with the geopolitical zero-sum thinking, both the USA and China have sought to capitalize on the crisis to boost their international profile. Instead of working together to mitigate the health and economic impacts of COVID-19, the two powers fear that the other will exploit the current situation to accrue political, economic or military gains that will give it an edge after the pandemic subsides. The spread of COVID-19 has set off a “battle of narratives,” in which China and the USA are accusing each other of failing to rise to the challenge. The world seems to be falling into a “Kindleberger Trap,” in which the established power is unable to lead while the rising power is unwilling to assume responsibility. The COVID-19 crisis is occurring amid the collapse of global cooperation. The USA, the traditional leader of international collective efforts in times of crisis, has abandoned its role entirely. The lack of leadership at the global level during an international crisis may cause the breakdown of the international order.

This paper examines the US-China competitive dynamics through the lens of the work of Charles Kindleberger, which both liberals and realists regard as foundational when examining the dynamics of global crisis management. This paper also uses the meta-geopolitics framework to determine the ability of both China and the USA to respond to the current COVID-19 crisis and its implications for their power and standing in the international system.

This paper concludes that the only way to escape the Kindleberger trap is “to embed Sino-American relations in multilateralism.”

As rivals, both the USA and China are seeking to capitalize on the crisis to boost their international profile. This paper probes how China and the USA navigated the ongoing COVID-19 crisis to determine whether or not they are currently in a “Kindleberger Trap,” using elements of the meta-geopolitics framework of analysis, namely, health issues, domestic politics, economics, science and international diplomacy. Using the meta-geopolitics framework will help us determine the ability of both China and the USA to respond to the current COVID-19 crisis and the implications of that on their power and standing in the international system.

Despite the concept of energy hub becoming widely signed and used in recent literature for addressing energy geopolitics, policies and relationships, it is still being confused interchangeably with other concepts. Hence, the present paper aims to shed light on the concepts of an energy hub, energy corridor, energy transit and energy center to clarify the main differences among these concepts through conducting a systematic review for the previous studies using the VOSviewer software targeting the identification of the main research gaps and clearing any confusion related to these concepts.

This paper conducted a systematic review based on a qualitative synthesis for the available publications from Web of Science and Scopus databases. It also followed strict search and filtration criteria based on the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses guidelines. In this review, a total of 47 papers, which met the inclusion criteria were selected and identified in the synthesis, and a bibliometric visualization approach were implemented by using VOSviewer software.

The bibliometric analysis presented the growth of the research topic recently. Besides, text mining and keyword analysis revealed the key themes that address energy hubs issues such as security, geopolitics, relationships, policies and transit of energy. The main research gaps identified in this review will provide a reference point that will encourage and open new avenues for other interested researchers for future studies. Furthermore, this review contributes to our understanding of the literature related to energy hub area through bibliometric analysis and visualization of publications data.

According to the authors’ knowledge, this review may be the first bibliometric analysis and systematic review of the energy hub domain.

Many scholars would agree that the international status of Hong Kong is one of the crucial factors that contribute to the continued success of Hong Kong. However, few of them explain the origin of Hong Kong’s international status. The purpose of this paper is to fill this literature gap through the case study of Hong Kong’s admission to an international organization – the Asian Development Bank (ADB) – in the late 1960s.

Based on declassified archives, a historical approach has been adopted to trace the origin of Hong Kong’s international status.

The findings suggest that Cold War geopolitics, both local and regional level, explain why Hong Kong, even though remained as a dependent territory of Britain, became a member of an international organization independent from the British influence. While geopolitics at local level incentivized the colonial government to “go out” for external support, geopolitics at the regional level provided an opportunity for Hong Kong to acquire membership of the ADB.

This paper is among the first academic study on the origin of Hong Kong’s international status.

The study aims to examine the geoeconomic significance of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to China’s global geopolitical ends. In this vein, the paper also seeks to explore the interplay between China’s grand geoeconomic strategy and China’s geopolitical ends from a realist perspective.

The study uses the realism theory to explore the interplay between China’s geoeconomic presence in the GCC countries and its geopolitical global ends.

The study concludes that China under President Xi Jinping has geopolitical ends, and they are the regional and global leadership. To achieve them, President Xi has formulated a grand geoeconomic strategy consisting of four strategies: going out strategy, periphery strategy, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. These strategies will maximize China’s economic power and presence around the world. From a realist perspective, this presence and its evolving consequences such as the balance of dependence will enable China to achieve its geopolitical ends. In this vein, China’s geoeconomic strategy in the GCC countries has largely maximized China’s economic presence in the Gulf. This presence highly serving China’s geopolitical global ends for two reasons: the economic weight of the GCC countries and their strategic location within BRI.

The study can prove the realistic dimension of geoeconomics in the neoliberal era on the application to China’s geoeconomic strategy.

The purpose of this study is to examine how renewable energy consumption moderates the relationship between inequality and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS). The nexus between energy use and geopolitical tensions has also been explored.

This study has used distinctive data sets from 1990 to 2018 to explore the interconnections on emission, energy use, inequality and geopolitics. To do away with the difficulties related to heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence (CD), this paper uses recent estimation methods that are robust to panel heterogeneity and CD.

The results of the panel augmented mean group (AMG) estimation and common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG) estimation verify the environmental Kuznets curve. The findings show that a 1% rise in Gini inequality leads to a 0.24% rise in the CO₂ emission (AMG) method and a 0.17% rise in emissions CCEMG (method). As far as the moderating impact of renewable energy upon Gini measure of inequality is concerned, it is −0.10 AMG and CCEMG methods of estimation, respectively. However, the moderating impact of renewable energy on the geopolitical index leads to a mitigating impact on CO₂ emissions, 0.55% decline in AMG method.

This research makes a distinctive contribution by investigating for the first time to the best of the authors’ knowledge the main pillars of sustainable ecological development in the context of the BRICS nations.

In geopolitical conflict zones, the phenomenon of abandonment often correlates with challenges of legal definitions and ownership status. The abandoned properties in conflict zones share similar characteristics with what is commonly known as a brownfield site. However, due to the nature of geopolitical conflict zones, which is mixed with people and sentiments other than technical challenges, the usual solutions to the brownfield question, cannot provide enough tools to deal with the land management of areas engulfed in conflicts. This paper, therefore, aims to discuss and propose a land-use typology that describes abandoned properties in a geopolitical context.

The proposed land-use typology serves as the main conceptual framework that integrates the sustainable brownfield regeneration approach with social theories of space and place. As an inductive research approach, this conceptual framework brought the fundamental and comparative literature on brownfield regeneration to support the main argument related to the similarities and challenges of the regeneration of abandoned properties in conflict zones. The approach used in this paper addresses the broader consideration of land management in geopolitical contexts and urban conflict zones that considers the relationship of exercise of extreme power over space.

The findings highlight an insufficient understanding of the origin of the property problems in geopolitical conflict zones, especially after a power struggle, producing significant land management issues. In a geopolitical context, urban planners and economists' perspective on definitions of space and place defined by maps, GIS data sets, Excel and other similar tools may not bring any practical or long-term solution to the land management challenges. The study suggests that dealing with abandoned properties and regeneration plans in conflict zones requires identifying and evaluating geo-political, geo-social, geo-economic characteristics of the area before any further action.

This paper's findings are of particular interest to decision-makers and conflict stakeholders in geopolitical conflict zones, such as local governments, policymakers and peacekeeping agencies. The findings of this research can clarify and help them have an alternative understanding of the space engulfed in the conflict, other than a technocratic, mapping, GIS, statistical way of understanding and approaches to the complex aspect of a space.

This paper's conceptual framework provides a value-added contribution to the literature on land management in conflict zones by taking the reader's attention to the origin of the problems and their associated real estate issues in geopolitical contexts. For the first time, this inductive research proposes a land-use typology that considers the complexity of the interrelationship between land policies, land-use theory, social theories of space and place and the exercise of extreme power over space. This paper produced a concept that is not easily measurable by quantitative nor qualitative approaches.

This paper aims to show the interest of using geopolitical analysis for buyers.

This study is a historical approach.

Geopolitics is very useful for buyers to develop new skills among their suppliers.

This paper shows that evolutions of the macro environment are more and more impactful for companies. Taking geopolitical considerations into account is a new key of relevance for purchasing decisions.

International Education is worth billions of dollars to the world economy, and many countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia have government initiatives that look to stimulate and guide international student mobility, research and technology transfer. The involvement of the state into student mobility does not come without risk. Government foreign policy and international relations between sending countries and English-speaking study destinations threatens to upset the historical norms of international mobility. What is more, world events such as the global pandemic of 2020, will have a profound impact on the future of international education, and may change the international landscape altogether. This chapter will frame the challenges facing institutions who benefit from international mobility in the context of geopolitics and world events. It will explore how institutions can leverage strategic enrolment management tactics to help mitigate enrolment risks posed by global disruption.