ABSTRACT
The chapter elaborates on the terms geo-economics, geopolitics, geostrategy and grand strategy. It defines those concepts and explains how they matter in today’s international relations, and especially how they manifest themselves in the case of the United States and its challengers. The analysis shows how the Obama administration re-calibrated US grand strategy to emphasise geo-economics over geopolitics in an effort to adapt US leadership to the changing context of the global order. It also sheds light on the US efforts to establish macro-regional trade initiatives, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), and their mixed prospects under the Trump policies. The chapter finally analyses the rivalry between China and the United States, concluding that instead of the People’s Republic trying to fundamentally change the international order, the future trajectory is likely to be shaped by mutual hedging. The United States will remain the sole superpower, unless the new Trump administration chooses retrenchment by design.
