FTN Television

Why are central banks buying gold at record levels while governments race to dominate artificial intelligence? The answer has little to do with inflation and far more to do with power. Beneath the AI revolution lies a growing competition for energy, strategic resources, and economic resilience. Gold's resurgence may be one of the clearest signs that the next global order will be built on both digital and physical foundations.

According to new data from the European Central Bank, gold has overtaken US Treasuries as the world's largest reserve asset held by central banks. Bullion now accounts for 27 percent of global reserve assets, surpassing US government bonds at 22 percent. The shift marks far more than a change in portfolio management. It signals a deeper transformation unfolding beneath the surface of the international financial system.

The intensifying U.S.–China rivalry is no longer confined to semiconductors, artificial intelligence, or territorial disputes. It now increasingly hinges on who controls the lifelines of global energy.

The world is producing more energy than ever before. Solar farms stretch across deserts. Wind turbines rise from coastlines. Governments announce record-breaking capacity numbers year after year. And yet, in many places, the lights still flicker. Not because energy is unavailable, but because it cannot be used when it is needed. Solar power peaks at midday. Demand peaks in the evening. Wind is abundant one hour and gone the next. Entire regions now generate surplus electric

For a long time, global finance was treated as infrastructure. Money moved. Trade settled. Systems functioned. Today, what used to be a background system has become a battlefield.

The Petrodollar-based hegemony, once the unshakeable foundation of global trade, has been eclipsed by a new digital reality. As of 2026, the era of resource extraction has officially been superseded by the era of algorithmic synthesis. In this transformed landscape, The AI Economy: Why Compute is the New Global Reserve stands as the definitive metric for national survival, shifting the seat of power from those who control the earth's crust to those who command the silicon rac

Global trade has always depended on risk. Storms, piracy and geopolitical tensions have long been part of the maritime equation. But rarely has risk itself become one of the most expensive components of global shipping. That is now changing.

A more fragmented global system is emerging—one where trade flows are increasingly shaped not just by cost, but by political alignment, security concerns, and strategic trust.

The rise of BRICS+—an expanded coalition including Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and new entrants, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, signals a deliberate push toward a more multipolar financial system. This is not a sudden collapse of dollar dominance but a gradual rewiring of global flows.

Smoke billows from the oil tanker Front Altair following a suspected attack in the Gulf of Oman on June 13, 2019. A Narrow Stretch of Water That Can Paralyze the World Economy At its narrowest point, the Strait of Hormuz is just 33 kilometers wide — yet in the first half of 2025 it carried 20.9 million barrels of oil and petroleum products per day, roughly 20% of global petroleum liquids consumption. A few hundred kilometers away, the Strait of Malacca handled an even larger

The strait of Hormuz has become the focal point of rising tensions between the United States and Iran. Military posturing, sanctions, and retaliatory threats have elevated the possibility of disruption from hypothetical to plausible. Yet the stakes extend far beyond the Gulf.

In a world where wealth is created at the speed of light, the global elite is undergoing a dramatic transformation. This deep-dive exploration goes beyond the headlines to reveal how a new class of billionaires—led by titans like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos—are not just accumulating wealth but are also wielding unprecedented power and influence that is reshaping the modern world.