The Strategic Use of Capital in Geopolitics

Eurasia Group is a global political risk research and consulting firm headquartered in New York City. The Capstone team examined how major world powers, such as China, Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom, exert their geopolitical influence by their strategic use of capital, namely their use of financial instruments. Specifically, the team evaluated the use of Multilateral and Bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) and export-import agencies.

Case studies were drawn to demonstrate how and where capital is deployed with a particular focus on commonalities. For instance, the heavy dependency on natural resource imports in the Asian context and the resulting rivalry in the South East Asian region. With regards to the European region, the Capstone team focused primarily on Germany and the UK’s contrasting involvement within the EU and how they chose to utilize certain instruments to secure their interests within this region. Germany’s influence within the Eurozone is of particular interest, whilst the UK case study has a broader geographic focus lending to the importance of ODA worldwide.

In the final assessment, the Capstone team evaluated the strategic use of capital of four countries and drawn on similarities and differences amongst these countries and across regions.