So-called “happy” globalisation is now a thing of the past. With it, the promise of continuous growth based on the indefinite intensification of international trade has faded. The turn of the 2020s marks a profound rupture in the global economic and geopolitical order, under the combined effect of major shocks — the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the rise of economic sanctions, the resurgence of inflation, the resurgence of protectionism — as well as the rise of the fourth industrial revolution driven by digital technology and artificial intelligence.
In this context, the transformations brought about by technological giants with unprecedented capitalisation are reshaping the economic, social and political balance on a global scale. This volume of the Revue d’économie financière analyses these recompositions through the contributions of thirteen experts, articulated around three structuring axes.
The first part examines the questioning of the international order. Geopolitical tensions have led to an increasing fragmentation of world trade, which is now structured around strategic blocs. Security is emerging as an organising principle of international relations, reconfiguring economic interdependencies. The asymmetries resulting from globalisation, formerly vectors of integration, are becoming instruments of power and coercion. In this context, Europe is faced with an imperative to strengthen its strategic autonomy, both militarily and energetically, as well as financially and digitally.
The second part analyses the changes in contemporary capitalism in an environment marked by systemic crises since 2008. The hypothesis of convergence towards a single model has given way to a plurality of trajectories. American market capitalism and Chinese state capitalism now structure the global economy, while Europe is developing its own path, based on normative framework and the search for a balance between innovation and protection. These differences are particularly evident in the development of artificial intelligence, which has become a major strategic issue.
The third part deals with monetary and financial fragmentation. It recalls, from a historical perspective, the constant intertwining of finance and geopolitics, characteristic of the great economic powers. The question of monetary sovereignty is addressed in close connection with that of the sovereignty of payments. While Europe has a sovereign currency, it remains dependent on largely extraterritorial payment infrastructures. This vulnerability is a major strategic issue in a context where financial instruments can become levers of economic pressure.
Through these analyses, this volume aims to contribute to the debate on the new dynamics of power and the conditions for European strategic autonomy in a permanently fragmented world.
Philippe Alezard