With globalisation under threat, G20 leaders must consider three factors to prevent the summit from becoming Groundhog Day
- Leaders of the world’s largest advanced and emerging economies must remember that globalisation is not inevitable and can be reversed, that there are many forms of capitalism and that the centre of gravity is shifting to Asia
First, the potential for, and occurrence of, deglobalisation, and its echoes in history. There have been several earlier “waves” of globalisation, including a succession of empires, the opening up of sea routes and the famed Silk Road.
While Immanuel Wallerstein’s “world systems theory” argues that a capitalist world economy has been in existence since the 16th century, for many others, “globalisation 1.0” was the period supercharged by the Industrial Revolution and mass production from the 18th century onwards, which ended in the run-up to World War I and its aftermath.
Second, it is too easily forgotten, or at best dismissed, by politicians and policymakers that globalisation is neither inexorable nor irreversible. Rather, there are many difficulties in maintaining a globalised and open world economy.
Moreover, there is no one form of capitalism with implications for globalisation, but rather, even within Asia, many varieties.
