International Economic Order Research Articles

Silences of Bretton Woods: gender inequality, racial discrimination and environmental degradation

In the formal deliberations of the Bretton Woods conference, little was said about gender inequality, racial discrimination, or environmental degradation. At the time, however, the significance of these issues to international economic governance was prominently discussed elsewhere, including in other conferences planning the postwar international order. The fact that the Bretton Woods architects chose to ignore these issues, thus, was an anomaly that needs to be recognized as an important part of the content of the conference and its ‘embedded liberal’ normative framework. Explaining these silences also reveals important dimensions of the politics of Bretton Woods that have been understudied. More generally, this history highlights how efforts to encourage the Bretton Woods institutions to engage more with these three issues—and political resistance to those efforts—are not unique to the current era but were present at the founding of these bodies. It also contributes to recent calls for IPE scholars to devote more attention to the study of gender inequality, racial discrimination, and environmental degradation. These issues may be ‘blind spots’ in contemporary IPE, but discussions of their relevance to international economic governance have deep historical roots, including at the creation of the postwar international economic order.

Financialization goes South: Foreign capital flows and financial accumulation in emerging markets

Has global financial integration allowed firms in the so-called “Global South” to profit from financial activity? Financialization researchers have either neglected these countries and the international economic order in general or neglected firm-level dynamics, a broad sample of emerging markets, and a theoretical and historical explanation for this trend. I attempt to fill these gaps using data on all non-financial corporations across 31 emerging market economies to answer this question. To theorize and explain the recent historical origins of this process in a more sociological and global lens, I draw on the work of Giovanni Arrighi. My results show that financial inflows, but not outflows, increase financial accumulation in Global South firms—specifically short-term investments and cross-border lending. Moreover, nearly all financial income is generated by the largest firms. These results help explain how financial power undermines development in the Global South yet simultaneously empowers local economic elites who benefit from financial integration.

NEW ECONOMIC, ECOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL ORDER - THE WAY TO A NEW CIVILIZATION

Topicality. The steady increase of tension in the world, defined by sociologists and politicians as a "global risk society", is one of the main features of the development of modern civilization.The problematization of modern society is moving in the direction of exacerbating the global problems of human life (demography, food, drinking water, ecology, climate change, pandemics, etc.); an increase in the potential for conflict and crisis (military-political, interethnic and religious conflicts, an increase in the gap between rich and poor, an increase in nationalism, radical fundamentalism, etc.).
 Aim and tasks. The aim of the work is to discuss: topical issues of modern transformations, which are acquiring a stable character of the systemic crisis of society, defined by politicians as a civilizational crisis; to consider the priority directions of the strategy for overcoming the crisis. The anti-crisis strategy is based on the ideologemes of development of a new international economic, ecological and social order, focused on the formation of a new civilization.
 Research results. The paper assesses the trends of modern negative transformations, which take the form of various challenges and provoke countless threats and dangers for human life and the sustainable development of the world community as a whole. Increasing the intensity of use of the natural habitat of humans and animals is considered one of the main threats to the environment. The paradigm of the development of the "new world", "new international order" (NIO) as an imperative strategy for overcoming the civilizational crisis is considered. Attention is drawn to the features of such basic components of the NIO as the "new international economic order", the new "environmental (economic-environmental) order", "the new social order". In the context of the NIO, issues of enhancing the role of the UN, other international organizations and the international community as a whole in solving the problems of survival and sustainable development are being discussed.
 Conclusion. The paper argues that the development of an integrated "new international order" will serve as the basis for the formation of a new civilization of the approaching era of artificial intelligence. The analytical generalizations of the problems of modern globalization and the aggravation of crisis phenomena carried out in this paper provide grounds for the assertion that effective solutions to the tasks of ensuring security and sustainable development of human survival are connected with the formation of international order (NIO) - economic, environmental and social. The implementation of the NIO on the principles of noospherization and artificial intelligence will be the basis for the formation of a new prosperous civilization.

Not an ordinary bank but a great engine of state: The Bank of England and the British economy, 1694–1844

AbstractFrom its foundation as a private corporation in 1694, the Bank of England extended large amounts of credit to support the British private economy and to support an increasingly centralised British state. The Bank helped the British state reach a position of geopolitical and economic hegemony in the international economic order. In this paper, we deploy recalibrated financial data to analyse an evolving trajectory of connections between the British economy, the state, and the Bank of England. We show how these connections contributed to form an effective and efficient fiscal–naval state and promote the development of a system of financial intermediation for the economy. This symbiotic relationship became stronger after 1793. The evidence that we consider here shows that although the Bank was nominally a private institution and profits were paid to its shareholders, it was playing a public role well before Bagehot's doctrine.

Za jedan pravedniji svet: Jugoslavija, nesvrstani i borba za „Novi međunarodni ekonomski poredak“ (1973–1976)

This article, primarily based on the documents from the Serbian, Indian, US and British archives, as well as on the relevant domestic and international literature, intends to present the origins, course and results of Yugoslavia’s and Non- Aligned Movement’s (NAM) struggle for the “New International Economic Order” during the 1970s. This was the very first systemic challenge launched with an intention of altering the essence and structure of the entire world economic system in the interest of developing countries, then becoming increasingly relevant international actors.

Роль критически важных сырьевых материалов в условиях экономической неопределенности: опыт ЕС

The demand for minerals is set to increase in the future due to the global competition, industrialization in the developing countries, digitalization of the developed economies as well as the social and economic shocks in the course of a deep transformation of the international economic order. Dependence on the critical raw materials may soon replace the dependence on oil and gas. A reliable and sustainable supply of both primary and secondary raw materials, especially of the critical raw materials for the key technologies and strategic sectors such as the renewable energy, electric mobility, digital technologies, space and defense, is a prerequisite for achieving national security and independence. The new EU Industrial Strategy addresses security and sustainable development and calls for active action on critical raw materials and creation of sector-specific raw material alliances. This EU policy pursues a strategy of diversification in providing non-energy raw materials for EU value chains and ensuring the social welfare. Diversification of supply is related to reducing the dependencies in all areas by supplying primary raw materials from the EU, by increasing the supply of secondary raw materials through efficient use of resources, and by finding alternatives to scarce raw materials. One of the priority actions was to create a list of critical raw materials at the EU level.

Globalisation, Divided Societies and Nation-Centred Economic Policies in America and Britain

Abstract A stronger emphasis on domestic politics and national sovereignty has recently shaped international economic relations, for instance, in the United Kingdom and the United States. This trend weakened the liberal international economic order (lio) with its promotion of globalisation and multilateralism. Why have the UK and the US, which formerly spearheaded the liberal order, embraced nation-centred foreign economic policies (ncp) under the Trump and Johnson governments? I argue that domestic forces predominantly drove this shift, since a political de facto alignment of value-based societal ideas and material interests increasingly favoured national self-determination and the privileging of domestic groups. The negative consequences of the lio such as rising income inequality, job losses and a perceived heteronomy had strengthened societal ideas and interests that converged in support of ncp. I examine these arguments by applying the societal approach to governmental preference formation in case studies on Johnson’s Brexit policy and Trump’s trade policy towards China.

Lessons of the New International Economic Order for the Contemporary World Economy

Although the new international economic order (NIEO) has mostly been assessed as a failure, its ideas still seem relevant in today’s crisis environment. The new context clearly shows that the existing liberal international order is ineffective and calls for deep changes like in the times of the developing countries’ fight for the NIEO. The article considers whether its principles remain of relevance today, which ones have been amended and which should be newly introduced, all based on NIEO-related lessons. Dilemmas between international law or a rules-based order as a framework for global governance and whether the proposed new inclusive global economic order is to be based on values (and if so, which) are evaluated. Keywords: new international economic order, new inclusive global economic order, rules-based order, values, principles, international law, global governance, lessons

Reform of global trade governance: the role of the European Union

ABSTRACT The World Trade Organization (WTO) faces an existential crisis. Nominations to the Appellate Body (AB) are deadlocked; tariffs are being raised and retaliated against; and substantive negotiations are stalled. A number of Members, including European Union (EU or the Union) and its Member States, are convinced that the WTO is in need of profound reform, inter alia, with a view to integrating developing countries further, addressing unfair subsidies and state-owned enterprises (SoEs), and optimizing the dispute settlement mechanism (DSM). The EU has recently presented several reform proposals. It has also tightened its domestic tools for enforcing trade obligations and is cooperating with like-minded partners outside the institutional framework of the WTO. The present article looks into the WTO’s challenges from a European perspective, with a critical analysis of the EU’s proposals for reform, while also highlighting its approach on tackling issues that affect the international economic order outside the WTO.

Digital currencies and great power rivalry: China as a disseminator in the digital age

ABSTRACT The United States reign as global hegemon has been empowered by massive structural power over key international economic, technological and ideological networks. As chief disseminator during the era of emerging computer technology and communications, the U.S. became a rules-maker, empowered to shape international governance in its favour. However, a new era of digitalized assets, transactions and networks will provide an opportunity for Central Bank Digital Currencies (‘CBDCs’) to constitute the technological-financial-business bones of the developing digitalized global economy. CBDCs will exert massive influence on the international economic, technological and ideological orders. Moreover, all of these impacts are inextricably connected to the hegemonic rivalry between the United States and China. Astutely, China has been developing the digital Yuan and is the first major economy to distribute a CBDC. If China's CBDC successfully migrates to external usage, and depending upon the degree of crucial Chinese domestic reforms, the digital Yuan may offer an opportunity for China to be a disseminator in the digital age. Chinese influence over global networks and governance frameworks would vest China with advantageous structural power in the economic, technological and ideological spheres – the fulcrums of the U.S.-China hegemonic rivalry.

‘The hole in the ground that cannot be moved’: Political risk as a racial vernacular of extractive industry development

This paper draws on two independently conducted ethnographies of mining finance centred on connections between London and South Africa (2012–14 & 2016–17), and research on the political risk industry in the UK and South Africa (2017–19). We show that the discourse of ‘political risk’ in the mining market constitutes a racial vernacular of extractive industry development which purports to concern itself with ‘real’ insurable risks, but in fact expresses racialized anxieties about the expression of sovereignty over resources in post-colonial states. We draw attention to the two, complementary extractive temporalities that arise from this racial vernacular of extractive industry development: a forward-looking process of folding anxieties about political risk into speculative valuations of mineral projects ‘that cannot be moved’, and a historicising temporality characterized by silencing the histories of anti-colonial attempts to remake the international economic order – a silencing upon which the authority of political risk discourse depends.

Beyond Great Powers: Middle Power Paths to Resilient Multilateralism

Set amidst growing global challenges and great power politics, this article asks how middle powers might best promote global collective action. Adopting a historical approach, it explores four case studies on middle power multilateralism in (1) post-1974 UN New International Economic Order; (2) post-1989 Bretton Woods institutions; (3) post-1992 European Union expansion; and (4) post-2003 UN South- South cooperation. These inform a policy framework and an ensuing alternative termed “resilient multilateralism.” Adopting a foreign policy standpoint, this alternative entails principles on context specificity, complementarity, consensus building, and non-confrontation. By opening space for global action, it offers a timely approach to countering future shocks and coordination failures—whether wrought through nature or through hands of our own.

Understanding of democracy and peace Gershon H.Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences, Tel Aviv University

One of the great changes in the world situation after World War II was the long period of peace without war between democracies and even great powers. However, the world is not easy in the halo of peace. The smoke of local wars such as the Iraq war has not yet dissipated, and frequent terrorist groups is worrying. In Asia, Japan's military influence, which is second only to the United States, cannot be underestimated. Its defense strategy changes from specialized defense to outward defense. This situation brings a new threat to the security of all countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The problem of the "security dilemma" remains one of the major issues in international politics today. In this regard, realism puts forward the theory of potential equalization and deterrence, while liberalism puts forward the theory of world government, collective security, economic interdependence, and democratic peace. Among them, democratic peace theory, as a popular theory in the field of western international relations research, has aroused wide controversy in the academic circles. "Democratic peace theory" believes that there is no or little war between democratic countries, and "non-democratic countries" are the root cause of war, and expanding democracy is the inevitable requirement for maintaining peace. "Democratic peace theory" does not conform with historical facts, it is the theoretical basis for neo-interventionism in promoting human rights diplomacy. The relationship between democracy and peace is complex: peace between international society and international relations requires not only a domestic democracy, but also in international life; democracy is only one of the many reasons affecting international peace, It has limited impact on peace; the "democracy peace theory" advocates established peace is essentially local peace between western countries based on unreasonable international political and economic order, the consolidation of overall world peace and the establishment of just and reasonable new international order call for new democracy.

Wither the Trade Regime?

Abstract Democratic governance, liberal values, and the open trading regime are facing interconnected existential challenges. For most of the post-WWII period, they were “legs to the same stool.” Today, the connections among the three have frayed, and this has implications for the future of the liberal international economic order. While the trade regime successfully incorporated smaller autocratic states, the rise of China and increasing tension among signatories to the WTO has challenged the rule-based trading system. This essay argues that even with these divisions among the memberships, all trading nations, including China, need the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)/WTO. Trade requires market predictability; exporters and their home governments require some means to adjudicate conflict. The GATT/WTO remains the best, and perhaps the only, organization that can facilitate such coordination and finesse the changing nature of the international system to assure an open world economy.

An “Ordo-Thinker” on the Left: Jan Tinbergen on the National and International Economic Order

Abstract Thinking in terms of order is believed to be a feature of several liberal economic schools, most famously the ordoliberal school. This article demonstrates that the work of Jan Tinbergen provides a good example of “thinking in orders” on the left. His analysis of the national and international economic system is conducted in terms of order, and he believed that economic stability was primarily the result of the institutional order of an economy. This article shows that these ideas were shaped in discussions over the Plan of Labor (comparable to the New Deal) in the Netherlands as well as during his period in Geneva at the League of Nations. Crucial in Tinbergen's work on order is the optimal set of institutions, a so-called optimal order, that specifies the right level of centralization and decentralization in economic decision making. This focus on order is an important move away from the equilibrium-focused work on econometric studies of the business cycle theories of the 1930s. By showing the importance of the discussions in Geneva for Tinbergen's work, the article also problematizes Slobodian's recent argument that the Geneva school was neoliberal in nature. Instead, we demonstrate that it is better understood as internationalist and bipartisan.

The Green Backlash against Economic Globalization

AbstractDespite the steady increase in environmental provisions being included in trade agreements to address potential environmental risks associated with increased trade, growing public concern about environmental issues has given rise to major public protests against various trade agreements. However, facing the widespread backlash against the liberal international economic order, pro-trade leaders have yet to respond adequately to the public's concern over the potential implications of trade on the environment. A review of European Union (EU) officials’ public communication on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership shows that trade advocates narrowly focus on the economic benefits of trade in their trade-related communication while paying little attention to the environmental impacts of the trade deal. This ignores an important aspect of the public discontent with economic globalization. This article argues that the pro-trade camp's failure to engage the public in an inclusive and transparent debate about the environmental effects of trade presents a missed opportunity that has triggered widespread resistance to trade liberalization. By studying the communication channel, this essay highlights the important role of information and dialogue as a potential response to the current public backlash against economic globalization.

Nationalism, Populism, and Trade Agreements

Abstract The rise of nationalist and populist movements throughout the world has led to concerns about the future of the liberal international economic order. Central to these worries is the belief that nationalist and populist publics and their leaders will reject open trade, which has been a cornerstone of the global order. Yet despite these fears, very little empirical research has been conducted on the links between either nationalism or populism and trade policy. In this paper, we argue that nationalism and populism are likely to discourage trade liberalization in democratic states, but that these forces will have little influence on trade policy in non-democracies. To test this argument, we focus on state involvement in preferential trade agreements (PTAs). Based on a variety of tests, we find considerable support for our argument. Democracies with nationalist or populist governments are especially reluctant to join PTAs, but neither nationalism nor populism systematically influences whether non-democracies enter PTAs.

Transnational Corporate Power: From Lomé to the CARIFORUM-EU EPA

The post-Lomé era, from the turn of the twenty-first century, marks a shift from an epoch of non-reciprocal preferential trade under successive Lomé Conventions to one of reciprocal trade within a free trade area under a neoliberal international economic order. Post-Lomé thus constitutes a new age in the relationship between the European Union (EU) and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states. In this context, there are several factors that distinguish the Lomé period of preferences from twenty-first century agreements between the EU and ACP states, and which have influenced this development in the Europe-ACP relationship. This article focuses on the influence of one particular factor on the evolution of relations between Western Europe and ACP states that is often overlooked or undertheorized in the predominantly state-centric analyses of same. It therefore investigates and demonstrates the connection between transnational corporate interests and the dramatic shift to the post-Lomé framework for engagement between the EU and ACP states, as well as the progressive neoliberalization of Lomé era agreements even before the dramatic shift in this relationship. The study establishes that the agenda for and outcome of negotiations on the Cotonou Agreement of 2000 largely reflects transnational corporate interests, and that the CARIFORUM-EU EPA of 2008 is also consistent with the pattern of their neoliberal pursuits.

A new type of engagement between China and Europe amidst the COVID pandemic

ABSTRACT The impact of the pandemic on the international economic and normative order has accelerated power struggles between the East and the West. Especially, the intensification of conflicts between China and Europe in terms of values may even affect the existing cooperation in the fields of economics, trade, and multilateralism. Despite divergences between China and Europe, including queries over the so-called mask diplomacy and cultural discrimination, as well as pressures from the US, some in Europe hope to strengthen engagement with China and keep the door open for cooperation and dialogue, thereby committing to the fundamentals of win-win cooperation. Cooperation is the backbone of a new type of engagement between China and Europe, which should not be affected by some occasional discord. Based on this new type of engagement, China and Europe build mutual trust, strengthen communication and coordination on global issues in a positive and pragmatic manner.

About the question of the legal entities responsibility for committing a genocide

This article examines the issue of establishing binary liability for genocide both within the scope of the 1948 UN Convention and the criminal legislation of the countries that signed it. In this regard, the authors empha-size that the presence of a corpus delicti and criminal responsibility for legal organizations is based in part on a subject that is one of its components as well as individuals. To ascertain the issue’s relevance, a provision was also drafted stating that it must be resolved and referencing the 1985 UN Guidelines on developing a sys-tem for crime prevention and criminal justice of a new international economic order and existing international treaties of a universal and regional nature. In conclusion, the authors emphasize that filling the noted gap serves as a counteraction to the preconditions for genocide commission and, therefore, it should be a part of the Convention’s duties to its members.