Globalization refers to the process where countries, corporations, and people interact and trade with one another across the world. It has perhaps been the defining characteristic of human civilization for the past 30, 70, or maybe even 500 years, depending on your point of view. It has correlated with positive developments such as higher average wealth and less overall violence, as well as with some negative developments such as growing wealth disparity and environmental degradation. But what is “slowbalization”?
What Is Slowbalization?
Slowbalization means what you probably think it means. It’s a slowing down of globalization. Between 1970 and 2008, world exports as a share of GDP rose from 13% to 31%, so not only has globalization been dominant, it’s been increasing. Many of us previously couldn’t even think of a world that wasn’t defined by globalization, but we now may be entering such a world.
Instead of looking for new ways to integrate with the international community, several countries are retreating from it. Some countries are choosing to do this and others are being forcibly cut off from the international community. Of course, the most prominent example of this right now is Russia. Russia’s aggressive invasion of Ukraine has seen them be cut off from many other nations via sanctions.
Russia, Ukraine, and Economic Regression
Much of the talk around slowbalization today centers around the Russia-Ukraine Conflict. Russia’s invasion and the subsequent sanctions have contributed to a cost-of-living crisis around the world, as economies are still trying to recover from Covid-19. Russia is a major exporter of natural gas and oil, and they, as well as Ukraine, are huge exporters of wheat. Come autumn, their lack of wheat exports, combined with environmental problems around the world—specifically record-high temperatures threatening wheat harvests in India and Pakistan—could cause food shortages and high food prices. This is not the future globalization promised.
Isolationism
It would be wrong to say that globalization was going great until Vladimir Putin decided to invade Ukraine. Perhaps the first blow to globalization came with the Great Recession in 2008. More recently, the trade skepticism of former US President Trump’s years in the White House, as well as the UK’s vote to leave the European Union (EU), and the Covid-19 pandemic, have led some to think that globalization may have outlived its usefulness.
Progress Is Not Always Linear
Does the current trend of slowbalization mean the death of globalization? It’s possible. But it’s perhaps more likely that these obstacles will merely transform how globalization works. Countries are still signing new trade deals. And as the pandemic demonstrated, many nations and economies are not set up to succeed in isolation.
The problems of violence, climate change, and inequality are also huge. But is there a solution for these issues that doesn’t utilize the mechanisms of globalization? The US election of Joe Biden and France’s recent re-election of Emmanuel Macron indicate these populations still believe in participating within the international community. And while Russia themselves are now isolated due to Putin’s actions, the way that many—though not all—other nations have come together in opposition to Russia can be seen as globalization working positively. The future’s uncertain, but one thing is clear: we’re all in this together.
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