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IGDC Annual Lecture 2026
ENV/005, Environment Building, Campus West, University of York (Map)
Event details
The Second Cold War: States, Firms, and Prospects for Regional Development
The US and China are locked in a geopolitical rivalry. Whereas the Cold War centred on the consolidation of rival territorial blocs, the US and China compete for centrality in transnational networks, namely infrastructure, financial, production, and digital networks. Ultimately their competition is driving the renegotiation of globalization as we know it, and I show how states and firms are responding. Governments worldwide are implementing institutional reforms and regulating inter-firm relations, while seeking to maintain the deep ties to the US and China that were forged in the past four decades. Meanwhile, transnational firms seek to mitigate their exposure to geopolitical risk by either embracing the geostrategic objectives of states or attempting to remain aloof from geopolitics while they implement novel location and supply-chain strategies. Together, these responses are giving rise to a new global economic geography and reshaping the development prospects for regions worldwide. I will provide wide-ranging examples from Asia, the Middle East, Africa and North America, to explain why some regions stand to benefit while others risk being left behind.
The lecture will be followed by a drinks reception.
About the speaker
Seth Schindler is Professor of Urban Politics & Development at the University of Manchester, and the Deputy Director of the Manchester Urban Institute. He is the co-founder of the Second Cold War Observatory, which examines how contemporary geopolitical rivalry impacts people and places worldwide.