James Forsyth James Forsyth

Risky Business

The Spectator/KPMG conference explored investment opportunities in today’s uncertain geopolitical climate

issue 25 September 2010

The Spectator/KPMG conference explored investment opportunities in today’s uncertain geopolitical climate

We live in an age of uncertainty. The predictable threats of the Cold War have been replaced with more nebulous dangers: great power politics might be stable but across large parts of the world instability rules. The Spectator’s ‘Global Risk and Opportunity’ conference in association with KPMG explored the consequences of this uncertain global environment for business.

Andrew Neil opened the event by observing how the all-party desire in America to withdraw from costly foreign entanglements threatened the Pax Americana that has kept the peace since the end of the Cold War. The Conservative MP Malcolm Rifkind, who served as foreign secretary and defence secretary in John Major’s government, offered an overview of the global landscape. He warned that Russia is ‘an authoritarian state’ and that India is a better long-term investment than China because India’s democratic system provides a safety valve for popular discontent.

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