Command and Control Cities in Global Space-economy Before and after 2008 Geo-economic Transition

The global economic downturn caused primarily by the US sub-prime mortgage crisis in 2007 engendered revenue loss of the multinational corporations. Existing studies have yet to depict the detrimental impacts on city＇s command and control functions induced by the sub-prime mortgage crisis together with its residual wave of global economic recession on the global spatial economy. Recent and previous studies have produced an ＇instant history＇ of the global spatial economy before the global economic downturn undermines the global economy in late 2008. How- ever, the waxes and wanes of major cities＇ command and control functions on the global economic arena before and after the outbreak of financial crisis and its associated geo-economic transitions are still poorly understood. This paper attempts to contribute a new set of customized data to update and fill in the gap in the literature with the investigation of the command and control functions of cities arotmd the world from 2005 to 2009. Particular attentions are paid to the time-space relationship of the geo-economic transition that can capture the recent historical images of the com- mand and control situation of different cities in the world.

Economic Development Status of the Countries along the Belt and Road and Their Correlations with Population and Carbon Emissions

The construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road are important measures for allowing China to expand its opening up to the outside world under the background of economic globalization.Based on this consideration,and from the perspective of geo-economics,this study uses a variety of mathematical statistical methods to analyze the economic development status and differences among the 30 countries along the Belt and Road.In addition,the correlations between GDP,population and carbon emissions in these countries are also analyzed.The results show that the current economic development levels of the countries along the Belt and Road are quite variable;the gaps between the indicators of the economic development of the countries along the Belt and Road are convergent;the GDP,population,and carbon emissions of the countries along the Belt and Road each showed an overall upward trend during the study period,and the changes in these three values showed significant correlations.Across all countries,the correlation coefficients between GDP and population(0.989),between GDP and carbon emissions(0.995),and between population and carbon emissions(0.993),all indicate that the correlations between GDP,population and carbon emissions are very high.Among them,GDP has the highest correlation with carbon emissions,reaching 0.995.Regression analysis shows that the value of R^2 reached 0.995,indicating that the regression fitting effect is very good and the calculation result is highly reliable.Based on these results,this paper proposes the following two suggestions:(1)Promoting the Belt and Road initiative should handle the relationship between developing and developed countries;and(2)Promoting the Belt and Road initiative should also be linked to China’s domestic regional development strategy.

Energy shift： decline of easy oil and restructuring of eo-politics

This paper critically assesses the geopolitical and geo-economic impact of novel fuel resources on both resource exporters and importers. Presently, very strong political and economic forces drive the utilisation of domestic, unconventional oil and gas recovery in the West as these enhance energy security and ease balance of payment issues. The additional capacity generated by this trend has, supported by other effects such as Saudi Arabia＇s decision to maintain current production, triggered a significant reduction ofoil prices. Consequently, it is now oil exporters that struggle with the balance of payment issues and often these countries base their fiscal budget completely on fossil fuel revenues. In fact, these unconventional resources help turn the tide while oil exporters are now politically significantly weakened due to the increased energy sufficiency of the West. The catch is that the extraction of unconventional types ofoil has many environmental implications. So, internalising the environ- mental externalities have to be considered. This paper, therefore, assesses, next to geopolitics and geo-economics, the environmental implications of this trend.

Asian-led Collective Security Architecture for the Gulf

Seldom does the literature and discussion on Gulf-Asia relations go beyond the expanding economic ties between the oil-rich producers and some of the biggest energy consumers.Exploring the‘what next’dimension of this engagement reveals tentative but interesting attempts to diversify towards‘strategic’cooperation that offer alternative possibilities for Gulf security and stability in the long term.An Asian-led initiative offers Washington a perfect stage to remain relevant even as its political-security interest and influence wanes in the Gulf.The same applies to Europe,which has long sought to reestablish its influence in the region.This paper explores these issues and rationalises the need for an Asian-led collective security architecture for the Gulf.