Geopolitics and Global Power Shifts: Navigating a New World Order

Niveditaa Chakrapani JadeTimes News

N. Chakrapani is a Jadetimes news reporter covering science and geopolitics.

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Image Source : REUTERS/Jason Lee Reuters Images

The global geopolitics landscape is in a process of drastic change, where new alliances and economic powerhouses are being redefined with military developments changing the power balance. These changes shape everything from global trade dynamics to security dynamics.

1. Rise of China

China has risen as a global superpower and tested the world order led by the United States. As the world's second-largest economy and the largest trading partner for over 120 countries, China has strategically used its BRI to build influence throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The trillion-dollar infrastructure plan known as the BRI allows China to exercise soft power by using hard-won economic dependencies; it underscored its intent when it solidified its rapidly expanded military presence in the South China Sea. The World Bank suggests, China's economy is set to grow at roughly 5.2% by 2024 that would then position China over the United States as the world's largest economy by 2030(World Economic Forum).

2. America's Response

Although China has emerged in the recent past, the United States are still the strong leader when it comes to military and technological advance. The budget of the U.S. military for 2023 was a mind-boggling $842 billion, which is the largest military budget any country in the world has ever had. However, the United States still has its weak areas in terms of further consolidation in global influence. The country remains focused more and more on internal issues with this state of recovery of the COVID pandemic and forces America to question whether it could handle truly global issues, such as climate change or tensions in the Middle East(World Economic Forum)(TrendHunter).

Washington increasingly relies on alliances like NATO and the Quad that includes India, Australia, Japan, and the U.S. as a balance to the influence of China; Washington is pivoting towards containing China's assertiveness to its territorial claims in the South China Sea and its actions related to Taiwan (World Economic Forum).

3. Putin's Geopolitics Game

Traditionally a major actor in international power politics, Russia has dramatically been isolated since the invasion of Ukraine 2022. Despite severe economic sanctions by the West, Russia has continued to exercise huge influence through control over its energy resources, especially with Europe, and closer relations with non-Western countries, particularly China and Iran. The war in Ukraine continues to reshape the European security policy: NATO expansion into Sweden and Finland, increasing military spending among European nations to counter Russian aggression. World Economic Forum TrendHunter.com.

Russia is certainly not a world power in the same way as the United States or, even farther back, Britain, but its capability to disrupt and interfere with regional politics is still significant, especially around energy markets and cybersecurity. Moscow's engagement with China in an aligned relationship against Western hegemony is the most key axis of geopolitical power.

4. New Frontiers: India and BRICS

Its expanding economy, with growth of 7.2% in 2023, puts India at the top of the list of the fastest-growing major economies. At the same time, India's importance within the BRICS alliance (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) illuminates the de facto shift of centres of global power toward the Global South. In 2023, BRICS added Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, and Saudi Arabia, its membership significantly strengthening the group's influence on global trade and politics(TrendHunter.com)

India will increasingly walk a tightrope between the US and Russia, but will still be independent in foreign policy. Its growing population and market size place it at the centre of any future shift in the new world order, especially in Asia's rise to prominence.

5. European Integration and Schizophrenia

The internal conflict with a stay-long aftereffect of Brexit on the European Union and political fragmentation in the instance of France and Italy. However, the EU is still an important economic and political block, and this green energy initiative with their framework for digital regulation may become world standards. The Europe response to Russia's war in Ukraine has surprised expectations, whereby countries have increased defense spending and promise to move towards renewable energy independence, which will free them from Russian oil and gas consumption (World Economic Forum).

The global shifts in power taking place today comprise economic realignments, emerging alliances, and increased competition between established powers like the United States and China. As states begin adapting to this new world, their strategies will define the national, international, global, and regional implications of trade, security, and diplomatic relations that will develop an

d play out for decades to come.

"Never Shy on Stage, Always Shy Off It" – The Real Dame Maggie Smith Behind the Spotlight

Vithanage Erandi Kawshalya Madhushani Jade Times Staff

V.E.K. Madhushani is a Jadetimes news reporter covering Culture.

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Image Source : Noor Nanji

A Fearless Stage Presence Paired with a Quiet Personal Life

Dame Maggie Smith, one of Britain’s most celebrated actresses, is known for her commanding presence on stage and screen. With a career spanning over eight decades, she has delivered unforgettable performances in everything from Shakespearean classics to modern day blockbusters like Harry Potter. However, behind her powerful roles lies a much quieter, more reserved individual, a stark contrast to the characters she portrays.

A Stage Presence Like No Other

Dame Maggie’s career began on the stage in the 1950s, where she quickly gained recognition for her sharp wit, impeccable timing, and versatility. Whether playing Desdemona in Othello or Jean Brodie in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Smith’s performances were marked by a fearlessness and confidence that captivated audiences worldwide. Her ability to bring complex, bold characters to life made her a favorite of both directors and fans alike.

Shy and Reserved Off Camera

Despite her fearless performances, those who know Dame Maggie describe her as reserved and private. Colleagues often remark on how different she is offstage, noting that she is someone who prefers to avoid the spotlight when not working. One of her close friends once said, “Maggie is never shy on stage, but when the cameras stop rolling or the curtain closes, she’s incredibly private and often retreats from the limelight.”

Dame Maggie herself has admitted to being somewhat introverted, often shunning interviews and public appearances. "I’m not very good at being the center of attention off stage," she once confessed.

A Life Dedicated to Her Craft

Smith’s dedication to her craft is undeniable, even if it comes at the cost of a quieter personal life. She rarely engages with the celebrity culture that surrounds many of her contemporaries. Instead, she prefers to live a low-profile existence, spending her time focusing on her next role or spending quiet moments with family and close friends.

Her reserved nature hasn’t stopped her from building deep relationships within the industry. Fellow actors have noted her loyalty and kindness, often describing her as the “heart” of many productions.

Her Legacy On and Off Stage

While her personal life may be cloaked in privacy, Dame Maggie’s work speaks volumes. With multiple Academy Awards, BAFTAs, and Emmys to her name, her performances have left an indelible mark on both stage and screen. Whether portraying the sharp witted Violet Crawley in Downton Abbey or the formidable Professor McGonagall in Harry Potter, her talent continues to resonate across generations.

In her personal life, Dame Maggie is known for her generosity, particularly when it comes to mentoring young actors. Despite her private demeanor, she is always willing to share her wealth of experience with others, offering support and advice to the next generation of talent.

A Complex and Enduring Figure

Dame Maggie Smith remains a fascinating figure in the world of acting a powerhouse on screen and stage, yet a humble and private individual away from it. While she may prefer to keep her personal life under wraps, her impact on the arts is undeniable, and her legacy as one of the greatest actresses of all time is secure.

As she continues to work well into her later years, Dame Maggie remains an enigma a woman who effortlessly commands attention on stage while choosing to quietly withdraw from it when the show is over.

Scientist Claims Human Consciousness Comes From a Higher Dimension

Chethana Janith, Jadetimes Staff

C. Janith is a Jadetimes news reporter covering science and geopolitics.

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Image Source: (Elizaveta/stock.adobe/Getty)

When we think creatively or have “Eureka” moments, we may actually unlock access to a dimension outside of our everyday perception, according to the controversial theory.

You’re living in a three-dimensional world. We all are. You can go left, right, forward, backward, up, and down. Now, picture a being that can pop in and out of your reality as if pressing a button, like the most brilliant master of illusions. Untethered from the physical limitations of our world, this entity can now travel instantly across vast distances in space. Whether you think of it as a type of “soul” or a “spiritual entity,” this being has unlocked hidden dimensions that some believe lie beyond our perception.

But what if you were similarly connected to these higher dimensions? What if another word for the otherworldly being in question were “consciousness”, including your very own?

Despite centuries of scientific study, the nature of consciousness remains a mystery. Theories to explain the phenomenon abound, ranging from neural networks in the brain to complex algorithms of cognition, but none have definitively captured its essence. Michael Pravica, Ph.D., a professor of physics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, believes that we should be looking at hidden dimensions to explain consciousness. In his view, consciousness has the ability to transcend the physical world in moments of heightened awareness. His concept ties into the theory of hyperdimensionality, or the idea that our universe is not just made up of the three dimensions we perceive. Instead, the universe might actually be part of a much larger nexus with hidden dimensions, Pravica suggests.

If this controversial theory turns out to be true, we would have to accept not only that some beings may be residing outside the physical realm, free from the limitations of space and time, but also that our consciousness might have a similar capacity, Pravica claims.

An Orthodox Christian with a Ph.D. from Harvard, Pravica has found hyperdimensionality to be a unique way of bridging his scientific background with his religious beliefs. For this, he is on the fringes of traditional scientific thinking, taking more widely accepted ideas to extremes as a way to think about complex topics. Pravica believes hyperdimensionality is a much more familiar concept than we think. For example, he claims Jesus could be a hyperdimensional being—and not the only one. “According to the Bible, Jesus ascended into heaven 40 days after being on Earth. How do you ascend into heaven if you’re a four-dimensional creature?” Pravica asks. But, if you’re hyperdimensional, it’s very easy to travel from our familiar world into heaven, which could be a world of higher or infinite dimensions, he says.

Pravica suggests that we all might have the potential to interface with higher dimensions when we engage our brain in certain ways, like while creating art, practicing science, pondering big philosophical questions, or traveling to all sorts of far-flung places in our dreams. In those moments, our consciousness breaches the veil of the physical world and syncs with higher dimensions, which in return flood it with currents of creativity, Pravica claims. “The sheer fact that we can conceive of higher dimensions than four within our mind, within our mathematics, is a gift ... it’s something that transcends biology,” he says.

This idea of consciousness interacting with higher dimensions ties into some of the most advanced theories in physics, like string theory. It says that everything in the universe, from the smallest particles to the forces that bind them - is made of tiny, vibrating strings. The vibrations of these strings in multiple, unseen dimensions gives rise to all the different particles and forces we observe. “String theory is essentially a theory of hyperdimensionality,” says Pravica. “It’s looking at how the universe is put together on a sub-quantum scale.”

Hyperdimensionality may also help explain the curvature of spacetime, how space and time warp around massive objects like stars or planets and cause gravity. “If spacetime is not flat and it’s curved, then one could possibly argue that this curvature somehow comes from a higher dimension,” Pravica says.

While physicists commonly accept these theories about higher dimensions, not everyone agrees with Pravica’s ideas relating hyperdimensionality to consciousness. They might even be considered heretical within the scientific community, or a reductio ad absurdum, a Latin logic argument meaning “reduction to absurdity.”

Pravica’s view implies a “God of the gaps” theological perspective, “where gaps in scientific knowledge are attributed to divine intervention, rather than being seen as opportunities for further inquiry and understanding,” says Stephen Holler, Ph.D., an associate professor of physics at Fordham University in New York. “It’s a poor explanation mechanism that arguably stifles the inquisitive nature required for good science and teaches that it’s not okay to say, ‘I don’t know,’” Holler says. Admitting to ignorance about something is an opportunity, not the end. You also need to account for the trade-offs involved in disregarding reality.

The way science fills in our knowledge gaps is apparent in the way people eventually figured out how our solar system works, says Holler. At one time, people used to rely on the geocentric model to explain the world, an ancient belief that Earth is at the center of the universe. In the struggle to form an observational model out of this idea, astronomers turned to the epicycle, a model that adds small circular orbits (epicycles) on top of their larger circular orbits around Earth - to explain retrograde motion and apparent distance. However, epicycles made the geocentric model more convoluted, delaying the acceptance of the more accurate heliocentric model we know today. “The cost was a complex deviation from reality,” says Holler. “It’s cool to think about a hyperdimensional space, and advances in mathematics have come from understanding the interplay of dimensions, but do they really exist or are they modern day epicycles?”

This skepticism extends to the notion that our ability for novel thought is due to hyperdimensionality. “I don’t know of anyone who can visualize an object with greater than three spatial dimensions,” Holler says. The mathematical operations we perform on objects possessing more than three spatial dimensions are all algorithmic. This means that an operation on a fourth spatial dimension is performed in the same manner as an operation performed on a one, two, or three-dimensional object, says Holler. “The rules remain the same. Our visualizations of such objects are projections into a three-dimensional space in the way that a cube projected into two dimensions is a square.”

Even though Holler identifies as nonreligious and an atheist, he acknowledges that spiritual beliefs that are consistent with established physical principles can strengthen both faith and science. Still, he says that “hyperdimensionality borders on science fiction.”

The hands-on investigation of these realms is beyond our current scientific abilities. Even the European Council for Nuclear Research (CERN) hasn’t been able to provide a clear picture of higher dimensions. CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator, smashes particles together at high speeds to explore the fundamental building blocks of the universe. Scientists using the collider access infinitesimally small dimensions, smaller than a proton. If you enlarged a human hair to the width of a football field, a single proton would still be smaller than a grain of sand on that field. Yet, to see the higher-dimensional strings that quantum physics predicts, we need to get far more granular, using a kind of super-CERN or a cosmic megastructure like a Dyson Sphere.

Pravica has faith that, within his children’s lifetime, we’ll figure out a way to generate the incredibly high energies required to investigate other dimensions. Meanwhile, he remains a vocal supporter of hyperdimensionality.

“I see no point otherwise,” he says. “Why study? Why live?” Hyperdimensionality gives the physicist a purpose, a happiness that “transcends this universe.”