Global Investment Governance: A Call for Greater System Diversity and Rule Uniformity

Investment liberalization and economic cooperation between countries assured the steady growth of FDI. However, the turbulence of the 2007-8 economic crisis increased risk for overseas investment, prompting many countries to “go it alone”. The crisis highlighted systemic tensions that the current neoliberal global investment regime seems unable to resolve, sowing discord among countries dependent on global investment for growth and development. This paper begins with the fundamental observation that the world has moved on from 1945 and posits that the first half of the 21st century should witness the gradual, managed formation of a new global investment framework. Governance theory should make contribution to the stability and predictability of global economy as it does in the global trade regime.