Chapter1.Introduction: Unwanted Guests -- Chapter2.A Brief Note About Geopolitics and Empires -- Chapter3.The Bear and the Oyabun -- Chapter4.In The Crossfire of Empires -- Chapter.5The Walls of Zhongnanhai -- Chapter.6The Ultimate Game of Go -- Chapter 7.Dragon Versus Eagle -- Chapter8.Rome on the Potomac -- Chapter9.A Distinguished Old Lady -- Chapter10.From the Mediterranean to the Caspian -- Chapter11.From the River to the Sea -- Chapter12.Musings from Proxima Centauri -- Chapter13.Conclusion.

After the brief respite that followed the fall of the USSR, geopolitics and major wars are back, affecting everyone everywhere. In a world transitioning to multipolarity Great Powers jostle for supremacy, regional powers feel emboldened to act on their own ambitions, supply chains are disrupted and instability becomes the norm. America has an empire that it wants to keep, Russia lost an empire that it wants to recover and China doesn’t have an empire and wants one - with India the wildcard. But there is more to it than Great Power rivalry. From Ukraine to the South China Sea, from the Middle East to Central Asia, from the Arctic to outer space Bongiovanni lays it bare in this fascinating journey across the geopolitics of our time with, in the background, de-globalization, the battle against the dollar and the new AI-driven age. Francesco M. Bongiovanni lived in Europe, Asia, the USA and in the Arab world. He holds an MBA from Harvard and a doctorate in engineering. He is an entrepreneur in the space sector and a former investment banker who also worked as an advisor in strategy and finance. He has been made a Knight of the Order of St Charles for his contributions to humanitarian and biodiversity protection endeavours. He is an author of books and a composer of classical symphonic music and jazz.