In her final episode as host of Sounds Strategic, Kori Schake is joined by the new director of the IISS Geo-economics and Strategy programme and Japan Chair, Robert Ward.During the episode, Kori and Robert discuss how ageing demographics and economic stagnation severely undercut the optimism that surrounded hopes for Japan’s economic future in the late 1980s. Robert goes on to assess whether China risks following Japan’s path or if there are sufficient differences between the two East Asian countries for China’s economy to continue its growth into the 21st century. Kori and Robert also highlight the vital importance of geo-economics as a means of understanding contemporary international relations, diplomacy and statecraft, and the possible consequences of the increasing bifurcation of the global economy. Finally, Robert explains why the idea that China is carefully following a detailed hundred-year plan towards world domination is the myth that he would most want to dispel from the popular discourse.

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