Thailand has a decision to make. By Mehmet Enes Beşer For decades, Thailand’s economic self has been synonymous with turquoise waters, golden shrines, and night bazaars that glow. Tourism has been the crown jewel and crutch of Thailand’s GDP for decades, accounting for up to 20% of the economy in high-season years. But with the post-pandemic world—and ever-intensifying global trends ...
A Competition the World Can’t Afford to Lose By Mehmet Enes Beşer The race in clean energy technology between the United States and China is gathering pace—and increasingly it’s being fueled by an avalanche of subsidies. With billions flowing in from both sides on batteries, hydrogen, electric cars, and solar panels, the world is witnessing a new age of industrial ...
The Missing Link in Global Climate Ambitions By Mehmet Enes Beşer The green transformation in the car industry is no longer a vision of the future but a here-and-now necessity. Transport emissions account for almost a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, and the decarbonization of mobility is at the heart of both European and Asian climate policy. Rhetorical ...
Western Protectionism Threatens Global Stability By Mehmet Enes Beşer Trade was the banner of Western liberalism—a belief in open markets, comparative advantage, and multilateralism. For decades, the United States and the European Union preached the gospel of globalization, negotiating trade agreements, reducing tariffs, and preaching developing economies the virtues of deregulated markets. But in a disquieting turn of historical irony, ...
EU and China Have No Choice But to Choose Cooperation Over Confrontation By Mehmet Enes Beşer Risk of an imminent trade war between the European Union and China on electric vehicles (EVs) has increased to become arguably the most pernicious flashpoint on today’s economic landscape. This is less about gaining access to markets or marginal tariff levels—but the very conceptualization ...