Breaking or Bending: Rethinking Sanctions, Trade, and the Future of Global Markets

Welcome to the premiere episode of the Tipping Point, a new podcast series from the TRT World Research Centre.

For decades, the global economic system was predicated on a simple idea: efficiency and multilateral consensus. You traded with whoever offered the best price. But that era is effectively over. Today, we are witnessing a fundamental shift where strategic calculations and national security interests have become the ultimate arbiters of global commerce.

In this inaugural episode, we delve into the “weaponisation of interdependence.” We unpack how major powers are moving economic tools, such as sanctions, export controls, and tariffs, from the diplomatic sidelines to the proactive core of geopolitical strategy.

Key topics discussed in this episode include:

• The Shift in Statecraft: Why economic pressure has become a “low cost, high impact” alternative to military confrontation.
• The US-China Dynamic: How the competition for technological supremacy, particularly in semiconductors, is rewriting the rules of trade.
• The Rise of Extraterritoriality: How domestic laws are being projected across borders to force third-party compliance.
• The Global Response: The push for de-dollarisation by BRICS nations and the emergence of a fluid, transactional multipolar order.
• The Middle Power Dilemma: How nations like South Korea and Kenya are navigating the pressure to align with rival blocs while striving for economic resilience.

Join us as we analyse whether the world is heading towards irreversible fragmentation or if a new, stable equilibrium is possible.

Note: This podcast episode is AI narrated.

You can find the full analysis report below:

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