Geoeconomic spheres: The Age of Economic Multipolarity and Regionalism

Abstract

With globalization being challenged by the end of unipolarity, international economics and supply chains are being redesigned to account for national security. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the cut-off of Russian gas to the European Union, and the purposeful employment of debt and shipping lanes to achieve political objectives forces the Western allies to de-risk their markets and economies. While protectionism is widely seen as inevitable, its lack of practicality prevents it from being a suitable replacement. Regional integration, and the creation of ally-based supply chains, however, present a unique opportunity in economic statecraft: to simultaneously strengthen alliances and de-risk our economies.