Geofinance is about a way of seeing the world. As a true introduction, this work aims at commencing a journey that very few have undertaken: namely, witnessing the pioneering of a brand-new interdisciplinary theory. Indeed, the world of today can no longer be analyzed and understood solely from the perspective of finance, economics, political sciences, or geography. This silo mentality is no longer compatible with the complex world in which we are living. We need a holistic approach that builds bridges among various research fields and helps us understand the complex nature of a phenomenon. That phenomenon is geofinance, as it combines the world of global finance with the realm of geopolitics.
Intuitively, many among you already perceive not only how geopolitics affect the world of global finance but also how international finance affects world events and their stakeholders, be they governments, businesses, or individuals. This introductory textbook shepherds practitioners, cognoscenti, scholars, and students through their first encounter with geofinance. It aims to offer a clear framework for exploring contemporary power conflicts by illustrating how the world of geopolitics and the realm of global finance mutually shape and interact with each other. The overarching theme of geofinancial structures (contexts) and geofinancial agents (institutions, organizations, countries, markets, and individuals wielding financial power) is accessible and requires no previous understanding of theory or current financial affairs. Throughout the book, case studies, including those of the influence of financial markets on geopolitics, the contagion effects between sovereign and banking risks, the influence of geopolitical “black swans” on the world of international finance, the impact of geofinance on business, et cetera, emphasize the multifaceted nature of the complex relationship between global finance and geopolitics in its broadest sense. These examples aid in explaining contemporary global power struggles, the global-finance actions of the Great Powers, the persistence of nationalist conflicts fueled by finance, the changing influence of borders on finance, the impact of the financialization of the global economy on world events, and the new geopolitics of finance.
