Introduction: Globalisation Disrupted

We argue that the current upheaval in globalisation is best understood as a complex process of re-making rather than a straightforward collapse. The chapter refers to the geo-economic rivalry between the US and China, the exposed fragility of global supply chains, heightened technological rivalry, resource nationalism, and populist sentiments. We argue that these forces clash with enduring asymmetries and, resultantly, sustain interdependence between nations even where the strategic decoupling process is underway. We consider in our opening chapter institutional responses, mega-regional accords, plurilateral reform initiatives, BRICS expansion, the emergence of “friends clubs”, tech blocs and explain why fragmentation and experimental governance arrangements will continue to coexist with commercial incentives that keep nations bound together. Rather than predicting a return to multilateralism, the chapter contends that the emergent order will be pluralistic and highly contested. It will be a patchwork of overlapping spheres of influence, con
tinuously being shaped by economic complementarities and power politics.