Global Outlook

The Wagner coup equation doesn’t compute. It just doesn’t add up. Herbert Wulf gave us a concise summary of the surreal 24 hours that gripped the world. But there are missing pieces of the puzzle that we haven’t been given.

In less than 24 hours, the march on Moscow of the Wagner troops led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of this military company, was over. It remains to be seen whether this attack has permanently weakened Vladimir Putin's authority and power.

Tensions remain high in Northeast Asia following the G7 summit, which asserted the principles of the US-led order rather than seeking to accommodate the conflicting interests and orders in the region.

How to deal with China? The Western industrialised countries have been trying for some time to find a convincing China strategy. The seven major economic powers that make up the G7 agree that it is not a matter of de-coupling economically from China, but of avoiding risks and reducing dependencies. This strategy is now referred to by the catchy Anglo-Saxon term "de-risking".

India’s presidency of the G20 for 2023 has been hailed with much fanfare and national pride in India. It has the platform and the responsibility to direct the collective energies of the group towards not only addressing the climate crisis but also potentially reshape the ideological contours of international climate politics.

America and the West are more isolated from the rest of the world than at any time since WWII.