Changing modes of global economic governance: from neo-liberalism to neomedievalism

Abstract

The system of global economic governance, as well as the global economy itself, is in the state of unceasing change. The concept of the architecture of the global economy, which is always identified with the existence of quasi-hierarchical structures of subordination of global economic potentials, shows its failure in modern conditions. It is shown that the modes of global economic governance have evolved substantially since the postwar period, which is equally true for all its spheres (trade, finance, migration, etc.). The analysis of the dynamics of changes in the regimes of global economic governance and the characteristics of the system allowed to draw several conclusions. During crises, institutions or leading states play a bigger role because of the need to achieve faster consensus, the availability of resources to solve problems, and better institutionalization. It is proved that the periods of change in the modes of global economic governance are shrinking in line with the reduction of the periods of global economy development. There is a transition from simple multilateralism on the background of neo-liberalism to hybrid forms attributed to the neo-medievalism. The results of the study show that the cyclicality in the replacement of the leading actor of global economic governance takes the next form: governments, integration regional unions, non-governmental organizations (producers) (intergovernmental organizations, international value networks, mega-regional agreements, respectively), which allows predicting changes in the modes of global economic governance. It is proposed that at the present stage it is worth considering separately the modes of global economic governance in its various spheres due to the lack of unified methods and mechanisms for solving global economic problems. One can observe a shift towards hybrid forms of governance based on negotiations, consensus, etc in all the spheres of global economic governance. The corresponding research can be supplemented by the analysis of cyclical patterns of global economic governance.