Amid heightened global tensions, it is reasonable to worry that the international order is collapsing, and that other priorities have displaced the pursuit of financial stability as a global public good. Old strategies for winning a zero-sum game are re-emerging, with ominous echoes of the twentieth century.
BERLIN – Since global financial stability ought to be considered a public good, many international institutions devote themselves to establishing the conditions to sustain it. Geopolitical conflict, however, often brings a change in thinking: suddenly, instability becomes a useful tool for protecting one’s own interests in a zero-sum global competition. In our current era of trade wars, cross-border supply chains, and restrictions on access to key technologies – call it “geotechnopolitics” – a newer version of this old dynamic is emerging. If history is any guide, financial war is around the corner.
BERLIN – Since global financial stability ought to be considered a public good, many international institutions devote themselves to establishing the conditions to sustain it. Geopolitical conflict, however, often brings a change in thinking: suddenly, instability becomes a useful tool for protecting one’s own interests in a zero-sum global competition. In our current era of trade wars, cross-border supply chains, and restrictions on access to key technologies – call it “geotechnopolitics” – a newer version of this old dynamic is emerging. If history is any guide, financial war is around the corner.