DDIntel - Hegemonic Power in the East, Sustainable Use of Blockchain and The “Goblin Mode”

There has only been one peaceful transition of hegemonic power in history—the peaceful transition of power from Great Britain to the United States after world war two. During that time, Great Britain, both financially and militarily, weakened by the European war, found far more prosperity in its alliances with America rather than conflict. However, such a peaceful transition in power is rare. 

For most hegemonic states in history, power transfer has never been easy, often consumed by bloodshed and war; the movement of sovereignty often spills blood. In the current age, there is a new hegemonic power rising in the east and one in the west. That being China due to its economic and military prowess and the EU, because of its network of alliances and financial clout. 

Currently, the contemporary hegemonic power, the United States, is on the back foot after the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and its tumultuous withdrawal from Afghanistan. Consequently, under the Biden administration, the US is weakening in soft and hard power, creating a power vacuum for others to take its place, such as the EU and China. 

We are seeing a new dawn in the distribution of power and sovereignty across the globe. Understanding foreign policy is critical to comprehending what is going on in the world. We walk you through this and more in this week’s edition of DDIntel.

Simon Constable is an expert in applied economics, making economics simple and policy goals workable for his clients. He is a fellow at the prestigious John Hopkins Institute of Applied Economics, and a regular contributor at Forbes, WSJ, and DataDrivenInvestor.

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Over the last year, the Biden administration in the US has taken several huge foreign policy hits. The US’s withdrawal from Afghanistan is largely seen as a colossal failure from a geopolitics standpoint. Similarly, the Ukraine Russian war is yet another example of how the US’s power is waning. Often considered the stalwart of western defense, security, and economics, there is no denying that the United States is seeing a huge decline in hard power and, more concerningly, soft power. Thus, as a hegemonic power, we see shifts in strength from the west to the east. With China’s power on the rise and the EU expanding its alliances, a new power dynamic emerges, Meziechi Nwogu explains more in his article.

Across the world, we are accustomed to working nonstop, getting a good education, and fulfilling our career ambitions. But over the last decade, the idea of this social contract has been breaking down; people are starting not to seek self-improvement. This is what’s called goblin mode. Goblin mode (no, it’s nothing to do with Lord of the Rings) is the complete opposite of self-improvement; you basically do nothing. U-Ming Lee gives us insight into this fascinating concept, explaining why the social contract is degrading and discussing other implications.

Post industrialization has seen a gradual increase in skill-based occupation and then a sharp decline. Nowadays, you don’t need any skills, but rather a fancy degree that will get you through the door of the organization/business that you desire. However, due to the significant gap in the market for hard skills, there is now a need for them. Thus, we see a market correction, correcting the skills shortage. Although the traditional forms of education are still growing, we also see skills coming back.

We are seeing a digital revolution. As with all industries, we see peaks and declinations. Over the next few years, several sectors, such as social media and cloud computing, will see extraordinary growth. These sectors will become influential in driving growth and sustainability in the Web3 market; thus we will see these sectors boom. Alongside these, Philipp Gysel outlines other sectors that will explode in his article above. Make sure to read his piece to stay on top of the trend. 

We currently face an environmental crisis. At governmental and lower levels, we see leaders scramble to formulate policy and ideas for environmental protection before it is too late. However, can the answer to ecological degradation be the Blockchain? Alexis Pappas seems to think so. Alexis dives into the positive impact blockchain technologies can have on the environment. She argues that although the Blockchain is not the only solution, it can be used in conjunction with other technologies to monitor the environment and protect it.

Hypocrisy is something riddled in politics. Often politicians say one thing and do the opposite behind closed doors. Foreign policy is perforated with injustice. Often what we would forbid on our doorstep is happening across the globe, but that’s okay, right? Not really. We often hear the phrase, the onlooker is just as bad as the bully, and it’s true, those who don’t stand for injustice should be held accountable. When we look at atrocities across the globe, we shouldn’t sit back, but rather we should act. That goes for governments and their citizens. Currently, regarding Ukraine, we see people act worldwide, but there should be more of this. The above article explains why.

NFTs have taken the world by storm, and there’s no surprise why. The growing value associated with NFTs such as Bored Apes and the development of more metaverse style NFT platforms such as Superworld has led to a rise in the value of NFTs. But what is an NFT? The easiest way to understand an NFT is to imagine a digital version of a physical object. But should you invest in them? Are they the future? Well, Ilona D gives us more insight in her article above. She explains that NFTs may offer a good investment for long-term gains over short-term gains.

A couple of months ago, we highlighted the web3 terms you should understand to get a proper grip over the Metaverse. Today we bring you a whole glossary of cryptocurrency terms that you also need to know. Cryptocurrency is a multifaceted concept and is often misunderstood by many. Similarly, it can also be argued that crypto is more complex than web3 currently due to the latter’s relative infancy. Thus, we highlight all the cryptocurrency terms you need to know, simplifying them.