Our 2020 Reader’s Choice Awards – Our 7 most popular blog posts of the year

Time for some year-end statistics! Here are the 2020 GED blog post that attracted the most readers. Our analyses on the Covid19 crisis drew considerable attention, but so did our globalization report and our spotlights on China and Ethiopia.

• 11 major events that could change the global economy in 2020

At the beginning of the year, we tried to predict which milestones would be of particular importance to the global economy’s fate. We missed one big one… but then: Who didn’t?

• What if the Covid19 world is what states make of it?

Turns out, our readers dig some IR theory. In this post, we looked at what neorealism and other “-isms” had to say about how Covid19 would change international relations dynamics.

• Globalization Report 2020 – The most important facts in 5 charts

The globalization report is an encyclopedia of data on globalization where one can easily get lost. So, no offense taken that this “cheat sheet” visualizing some of the highlights ranks high on this list.

• Coronavirus crisis Italy: An economic disaster in 5 charts

When the coronavirus hit Europe in the spring of 2020, it hit Italy hardest. In this post, we chronicled the most severe economic effects for Europe’s fourth-largest economy.

• A glance into the crystal ball: What will the future of international trade look like?

Trade is changing rapidly. It is growing more digital and more fragmented. Ahead of Davos 2020, we summarized the most important trends and their implications.

• Industrial Policy – Lessons from China

Industrial policy is a thing again. When we compared Europe, the United States, and China’s approaches, it is the latter’s aggressive top-down strategy that drew the most attention.

• Can Ethiopia become the economic hub of Africa?

It’s not a big “We told you so!” but still: Long before violence in the Tigray region escalated in November 2020, we highlighted their fragile economic prospects due to rising ethnic tensions.