Guest Editors:
Prof. Pengjun Zhao
School of Urban Planning and Design, Peking University, China
Deputy Chair of the IGU Commission on Transport and Geography
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Hans-Dietrich Haasis
Chair of Maritime Business and Logistics
Faculty of Business Studies and Economics, University of Bremen, Germany
Dr. Cesar Ducruet
Senior researcher
The French Research Institute for Scientific Research (CNRS)
UMR 7235 EconomiX, Paris-Nanterre, France
Introduction of Issue:
The term Geopolitics is normally used to describe the national zones of interest, influence, or clash, which are constrained by geographical factors’ impacts (Germond, 2015). The geopolitics events have significantly affected the national economic development and supply chain security, with no sector being more severely influenced than maritime business and global logistics, particularly for the strategic resources supply chain. It is widely believed that the rising geopolitical tensions are threatening global shipping (e.g., UNCTAD, 2018; Baracuhy, 2016; Khan et al., 2022). The geopolitical events or tensions affect global shipping in many ways. It is noted that geopolitics events, whether positive or negative, can affect the maritime shipping network, maritime trade pattern, global logistics performance, security of supply chain, strategic resources price, maritime transport costs, etc. (e.g., Kotcharin and Maneenop,
2020; Hendricks and Singhal, 2005). In recent decades, many scholars and practitioners have paid more attention to the impact of some geopolitics events on strategic resources and supply chain structure. For example, the recent geopolitical tensions caused by the Russia-Ukraine crisis led to an increase in the prices of global natural gas and oil. Meanwhile, shipping executives and crewing agencies have estimated that crews from Russia and Ukraine make up 17% of the world’s 1.9 million sailors, and at least 60,000 sailors are currently at sea or at ports waiting (Costas Paris, 2022). This example reveals
that the geopolitics event is an important factor in the performance and security of global logistics and shipping. This is particularly vital to countries which oil, gas, iron ore, and other resources are
heavily replied on import (e.g., Khan et al., 2021, Dong and Kong, 2016). Global shipping plays a key role in these countries’ industrial and manufacturing activities, for example, China, India, Japan (e.g., Umbach, 2010; Chien et al., 2020). Moreover, the economic system of resource-exporting countries may also face challenges of unstable global shipping influenced by geopolitical tensions, for example, Australia, Brazil, and Middle East (e.g., Abdel-Latif and El-Gamal, 2020; Salameh and Chedid, 2020).
Studies on geopolitics and global shipping is important for policymaking in relation to international resources trade and supply chain security. The relevant research can contribute to the maritime logistics providers, industry, trade companies, and other stakeholders that can timely formulate the appropriate measurements to face the challenges caused by geopolitics events. Currently, most studies have focused on the effects of geopolitics on natural resources shipping (e.g., Khan et al., 2021), shipping
industry (e.g., Kotcharin and Maneenop, 2020), maritime security (e.g., Germond, 2015), China’s maritime silk road initiative (e.g., Blanchard and Flint, 2017), shipping cost (e.g., Scarsi, 2009), and stock returns (Gkillas et al., 2018), etc. Nevertheless, some significant research gaps still need to be fulfilled in the field of geopolitics and global shipping. Firstly, most research is conducted from the views of
management, market, and economics (e.g., Khan et al., 2021; Kotcharin and Maneenop, 2020; Garlick, 2018; Palit, 2017). Considerable research has paid less attention to the effects of geopolitics on the maritime business and global logistics from a transport geography perspective. Secondly, many studies have commonly employed the panel data to analyze the geopolitics and maritime shipping on a macro-level from the long-term (e.g., Suárezde Vivero and Mateos, 2017), but the big data approach (e.g., vessels AIS data) is rarely used to discuss the short-term micro-changes of maritime shipping caused by
geopolitics.
Thirdly, although the quantitate analysis approaches have been extensively employed to discuss the relations between geopolitics and maritime shipping (e.g., Sun et al., 2018; Aloui et al., 2018; Chen et al., 2016), thus far, most studies have paid less attention to their interaction mechanism, maritime shipping network changes, shipping flow volatility, and other problems on transport geography.
This special issue works as a unique forum discussing the challenges and opportunities of geopolitics on global shipping from a transport geography perspective. It would fill the existing research gaps and bring fresh knowledge of geography of maritime transport. This special issue welcomes contributions on the following (non-exhaustive) list of topics:
• Global shipping geopolitics
• Geopolitical intentions and maritime transport network
• Geopolitical risks and shipping price
• Territory development and shipping
• Geopolitics of seaports
• Geopolitics and supply chain
• Geopolitics and international collaboration on maritime logistics infrastructure
• Geopolitical dynamics and shipping market
• Geopolitical space structure and seaborne trade
• Borderland spaces and shipping
• Geopolitics competition and maritime logistics
• Intercountry partnership and global shipping
• China’s belt and road initiative and global shipping
• International collaboration organizations and global shipping
Reference
[1] Baracuhy, B. (2016). Geopolitical risks and the international business environment: challenges for transnational corporations and their global supply-chain. Journal of Political Risk, 4 (6), 1–7.
[2] Khan K, Su C W, Tao R, et al. (2021), How do geopolitical risks affect oil prices and freight rates? Ocean & Coastal Management, 215: 105955.
[3] Germond, B. (2015). The geopolitical dimension of maritime security. Marine Policy, 54, 137-142.
[4] UNCTAD. 2018. Review of Maritime Transport. United Nations, New York, NY.
[5] Kotcharin S, Maneenop S. (2020). Geopolitical risk and corporate cash holdings in the shipping
industry. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 136: 101862.
[6] Hendricks, K. B., & Singhal, V. R. (2005). An empirical analysis of the effect of supply chain
disruptions on long-run stock price performance and equity risk of the firm. Production and
Operations management, 14(1), 35-52.
[7] Costas Paris. (2022). Thousands of Ukrainian and Russian Sailors Remain Stuck in Ports. The Wall
Street Journal.
[8] Dong, X., & Kong, Z. (2016). The impact of China’s natural gas import risks on the national
economy. Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, 36, 97-107.
[9] Abdel-Latif, H., & El-Gamal, M. (2020). Financial liquidity, geopolitics, and oil prices. Energy
Economics, 87, 104482.
[10] Salameh, R., & Chedid, R. (2020). Economic and geopolitical implications of natural gas export
from the East Mediterranean: The case of Lebanon. Energy Policy, 140, 111369.
[11] Umbach, F. (2010). Global energy security and the implications for the EU. Energy policy, 38(3), 1229-1240.
[12] Chien, F., Sadiq, M., Kamran, H. W., Nawaz, M. A., Hussain, M. S., & Raza, M. (2021). Comovement
of energy prices and stock market return: environmental wavelet nexus of COVID-19 pandemic from the USA, Europe, and China. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 28(25), 32359-32373.
[13] Blanchard, J. M. F., & Flint, C. (2017). The geopolitics of China’s maritime silk road initiative.
Geopolitics, 22(2), 223-245.
[14] Scarsi, R. (2007). The bulk shipping business: market cycles and shipowners’ biases. Maritime
Policy & Management, 34(6), 577-590.
[15] Palit, A. (2017). India’s economic and strategic perceptions of China’s maritime silk road initiative.
Geopolitics, 22(2), 292-309.
[16] Garlick, J. (2018). Deconstructing the China–Pakistan economic corridor: pipe dreams versus
geopolitical realities. Journal of Contemporary China, 27(112), 519-533.
[17] Suárez-de Vivero, J. L., & Mateos, J. C. R. (2017). Forecasting geopolitical risks: oceans as source
of instability. Marine Policy, 75, 19-28.
[18] Gkillas, K., Gupta, R., & Wohar, M. E. (2018). Volatility jumps: The role of geopolitical risks.
Finance Research Letters, 27, 247-258.
[19] Sun, X., Liu, H., Zheng, S., & Chen, S. (2018). Combination hedging strategies for crude oil and
dry bulk freight rates on the impacts of dynamic cross-market interaction. Maritime Policy &
Management, 45(2), 174-196.
[20] Chen, H., Liao, H., Tang, B. J., & Wei, Y. M. (2016). Impacts of OPEC’s political risk on the
international crude oil prices: An empirical analysis based on the SVAR models. Energy Economics,
57, 42-49.
[21] Aloui, C., Hkiri, B., Hammoudeh, S., & Shahbaz, M. (2018). A multiple and partial wavelet analysis
of the oil price, inflation, exchange rate, and economic growth nexus in Saudi Arabia. Emerging
Markets Finance and Trade, 54(4), 935-956.
Tentative timeline:
If you are interested, please send a title and a short abstract to Professor Haasis till 30.06.2022
Paper submission opens: September 1, 2022
Paper submission closes: March 30, 2023
Submission and Review:
Full-length articles should be submitted via Journal of Transport Geography online
submission system. Authors should indicate that the paper is being submitted for
consideration for publication in this special issue.
All submissions will be subject to the journal’s standard peer-review process. Criteria
for acceptance include originality, contribution, and scientific merit. Acceptance for
publication is based on referees’ recommendations.
Please contact the Guest Editors if you have any questions about the call specifics.
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