It is not going to be an eye opener for SkyNews.com.au readers that we are living in troubling and challenging times.
The pace with which the international geopolitical state of play fluctuates these days makes it difficult for strategists, policy planners and decision-makers to reflect accurately on what is going on. For some time, I have been highlighting the danger to Western leadership on the world stage posed by the Global South, and its interaction with the major counters to Russia and China. The recent Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok, an annual Russia-held Asia-focused geo-economic international event, offered some clear insight into how Australia’s geopolitical neighborhood thinks about the current and future state of the international world order.
Malaysia’s charm offensive in Vladivostok You would have thought the US-led sanctions against Russia and the ongoing war over Ukraine would have deterred would-be allies of Vladimir Putin from turning up at the annual conference. Tell that to the international business figures from more than 40 nations who flew into the country’s far east for the annual investment forum. Moscow managed to secure agreements worth more than 10.
5 trillion rubles (US$117.5 billion, AUD$172.5 billion), more than at previous EEFs, in a major win for the Kremlin.
But more significantly was the geopolitical messaging, which inevitably follows the EEFs deliberations. This time the messaging came from Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar .