Deglobalization

Core idea: The unwinding of the global free-trade system that defined the post-Cold War era. Not a recession within globalization, but the end of globalization itself.

The Process

Deglobalization isn’t a single event but a structural shift:

  1. Trade weaponization. Tariffs, sanctions, and export controls replace free trade agreements. Trump’s tariffs (largest since 1993) are a leading indicator, not an aberration.

  2. Supply chain retreat. Firms shift from efficiency (cheapest global source) to security (domestic/allied sources). “Just in time” becomes “just in case.”

  3. Financial fragmentation. SWIFT alternatives (CIPS, SPFS), bilateral currency agreements, de-dollarization. The petrodollar-system unravels.

  4. Bloc formation. The world organizes into competing mercantile blocs:

  5. Self-sufficiency imperative. Each bloc must produce food, energy, and manufactured goods domestically. Dependency on external blocs becomes an existential vulnerability.

Why It’s Structural

The WEF itself describes the emerging system as a “multi-nodal trade patchwork” - which is essentially regional mercantilism with polite language.

The drivers are irreversible:

  • The strait-of-hormuz-chokepoint closure demonstrates vulnerability of global trade routes
  • Political trust between blocs has been destroyed (sanctions, asset freezes, trade wars)
  • Each major power now sees dependency as weakness, not efficiency
  • The petrodollar-system - globalization’s financial backbone - is breaking