The geopolitics of AI | Quick Take | GZERO Media
Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: Hi, everybody. Ian Bremmer here. A happy Monday to you. And a Quick Take today on artificial intelligence and how we think about it geopolitically. I'm an enthusiast, I want to be clear. I am more excited about AI as a new development to drive growth and productivity for 8 billion of us on this planet than anything I have seen since the internet, maybe since we invented the semiconductor. It's extraordinary how much that will apply human ingenuity faster and more broadly to challenges that exist today and those we don't even know about yet. But I'm not concerned about the upside in the sense that a huge amount of money is being devoted towards those companies. The people that run them are working as fast as they humanly can to get better and to unlock those opportunities and to also beat their competitors, get there faster. I'm worried about what happens that is more challenging, that we're not spending the resources on the consequences that will be more upsetting for populations from artificial intelligence. The ones that will require some level of government and other intervention or else. And I see four of them.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin against the backdrop of NATO, Ukrainian and US flags.

GZERO Media/ Jess Frampton

Is the US to blame for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?

That’s what Jeffrey Sachs thinks. In a recent op-ed titled “The War in Ukraine Was Provoked,” the Columbia University professor – a man I’ve known and respected for a solid 25 years, who was once hailed as “the most important economist in the world” and who’s played a leading role in the fight against global poverty – argues that the United States is responsible for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to attack Ukraine 15 months ago.

This claim is morally challenged and factually wrong, but it is not a fringe view. Many other prominent figures such as political scientist John Mearsheimer, billionaire Elon Musk, conservative media star Tucker Carlson, and even Pope Francis have made similar assertions, echoing the Kremlin’s narrative that Russia is but a victim of Western imperialism.

This strain of Putin apologia has taken root in China, pockets of the US far left and far right, and much of the developing world, making it all the more important to debunk it once and for all.

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Ukraine drone attacks on Moscow imply they don't fear Russian response | World In :60 | GZERO Media

Will recent Moscow targeted drone attacks lead Putin to escalate the war in Ukraine? Biden and McCarthy reached a deal. Is the US debt problem solved? After Erdogan's election, will it be more of the same for Turkey & its struggling economy? Ian Bremmer shares his insights on global politics this week on World In :60.

Will recent Moscow targeted drone attacks lead Putin to escalate the war in Ukraine?

Well, so far, Putin has been claiming that these are terrorist attacks like he did the recent raids in Belgorod region, also in Russia. Certainly, it's interesting to note that Ukrainians taking these actions imply that they don't believe that Putin can or will do much in escalation. Also, keeping in mind this seems to be indiscriminate targeting of residential areas. No Russians have been killed that we know of, so far. But this is tit for tat, the kind of behavior we've seen from the Russians, of course, committing war crimes all over Ukraine. Really hate to see the Ukrainians engaging in that kind of behavior. Should be condemned, frankly. Not what the Americans or what most NATO allies want to see. And also shows the limitations of how much influence NATO has over Ukrainian military decision making.

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Henry Kissinger turns 100 | Quick Take | GZERO Media

Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: Hi everybody. Ian Bremmer here. Happy Tuesday to you after Memorial Day weekend, and I thought I'd talk for a bit about Dr. Kissinger since he's just turned 100 old. I'm pretty sure he's the only centenarian that I know well. And lots of people have spoken their piece about how much they think he's an amazing diplomat, unique, and how much they think he's a war criminal, unique. And maybe not surprising to anyone, I'm a little bit in between those views.

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Ian Explains: Why is global debt so high? | GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

As of 2023, global debt as ballooned to an eye-watering $300 trillion. That’s an average of $37,500 for every person on the planet.

Why is global debt so high? Decades of low interest rates and cheap good made money easy to borrow. Then, along came a pandemic which stalled growth and a war in Ukraine that drove food and energy prices through the roof.

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A trader works on the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange.

REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

If you’re a Republican, you probably think this is the worst economy in American history. If you’re a Democrat, chances are you at least rate it better than when Donald Trump was president.

But the truth is that even if your views weren’t colored by your partisan preferences, there’s enough conflicting data out there to confuse even the best, most apolitical economists.

Thankfully, I’m neither apolitical (I am nonpartisan) nor an economist (political scientists FTW), so if you ask me, I’d say the US economy is … pretty good.

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TITLE PLACEHOLDER | World In :60 | GZERO Media

Will Biden's reversal to allow F-16s to Ukraine be a game-changer? What is holding up a debt ceiling deal? Will the EU's lawsuit against Meta lead to a data-sharing agreement with the United States? Ian Bremmer shares his insights on global politics this week on World In :60.

Will Biden's reversal to allow F-16s to Ukraine be a game-changer?

Well, Putin says it is. Says that that would absolutely be a line that would be crossed and be irreversible. Of course, he said that about a bunch of things, and his credibility in a response to NATO providing defense to Ukraine has been significantly eroding over the last year. Of course, we also see not just F-16s, but we see Ukrainian armored troop carriers suddenly five miles deep in Russian territory, in Belgorod. The Ukrainians say it wasn't them, but they're very happy to embarrass Putin over that. Look, a lot of things that would've been seen as red lines six months ago now are not. Of course, that's good for the Ukrainians, but it also does mean that the tail risk dangers of this conflict are also going up.

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G-7 alignment & US political challenges | Quick Take | GZERO Media

Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: Hi everybody. Ian Bremmer here and a happy Monday. Quick take to start off your week as President Biden is back in the United States after the G7 Summit in Hiroshima.

What do we think? How did it go? Well, I mean a couple of very different takes. First of all, the G7 is enormously aligned, most particularly on Russia. I have never seen this level of outpouring of support. Every individual member of the G7 engaged personally with Ukrainian President Zelensky, the level of international aid coordination, diplomatic engagement, military support across the board continues to be at exceptionally high levels, not what Putin would've expected, not what the G7 would've expected before the Russian invasion, and that certainly helps to put Zelensky in a stronger position to negotiate with the Russians after a counter offensive over the coming months.

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