My name is Brodie Knox and, outside of YDS, I am currently a Policy Officer in the Australian Public Service. I studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics in University, majoring in the last, with a minor in Mandarin. I have a keen interest and understanding of global economics and its influences on diplomacy, especially its centrality in the modern global industrial economy. Throughout University, I had a keen interest in China and the rise of its growing economic power through the Belt and Road Initiative. Since, I have grown increasingly interested in the rise of South Asia (Indian Subcontinent) and Southeast Asia (ASEAN) as a counterbalance to China and the U.S. However, my interest almost always comes from the soft power of the global economy.