Introduction: Globalization as an Inevitable Transformation
Globalization is not just a media catchphrase, but a fundamental shift in the conditions of human coexistence. According to Christopher Meissner, it is a structurally irreversible process resulting from the human capacity for specialization and exchange. Although its historical forms—such as the gold standard or Bretton Woods—have collapsed, integration itself continues. This article analyzes the evolution of this phenomenon: from 19th-century trade waves and sovereignty crises to the new era of artificial intelligence. You will learn why a return to isolationism is an illusion and how to design institutions capable of managing global risks in the digital age.
History, the Trilemma, and the Foundations of Success
Economic history is an archipelago of episodes of integration and disintegration. The first wave of globalization broke in 1914 when communal governance failed and elites tried to revive systems ill-suited for mass democracy. A key mechanism here is path dependency—the inertia of structures, such as dollar hegemony, which makes changing the financial architecture nearly impossible. Rodrik’s Trilemma explains that it is impossible to simultaneously maintain deep integration, state sovereignty, and full democracy.
Whether a state benefits from opening up is determined by national institutions. Settler colonies (such as the USA and Canada) turned globalization into an engine of growth thanks to strong property rights. Conversely, in extractive colonies, weak institutions turned integration into a mechanism for resource draining. It was this Great Divergence that shaped modern inequalities between the North and the South.
The China Shock and the Aporias of Regional Integration
Globalization is not uniform. In Arab countries, it took the form of selective modernization, allowing for financial integration while maintaining tight political control. The so-called China Shock in the US brought entirely different results. The rapid reallocation of production to Asia following China's entry into the WTO led to the erosion of the middle class and political radicalization, fueling protectionist narratives.
In Europe, the Eurozone exposed the aporia of fiscal sovereignty. Member states, by giving up monetary autonomy without creating a fiscal union, were forced into pro-cyclical austerity in the face of crisis. Meissner shows that under conditions of deep integration, national sovereignty becomes a fiction, and domestic policy becomes merely the administration of external constraints.
Computational Globalization and the Era of AI
Modern computational globalization turns AI into a general-purpose technology that optimizes global value chains in real-time. However, this leads to techno-feudalism, where the traditional market gives way to the dominance of cloud capital owners. In these conditions, isolationism is impossible—the material unity of the world rests on data flows and climate threats that borders cannot stop.
The answer must be recursive globalization. This is a model based on the coordination of energy, technology, and ethics. It requires the establishment of a new class of transnational institutions capable of regulating not only trade but also algorithmic parameters and risk models. In the age of AI, globalization must become a feedback system in which technology serves to enhance human agency rather than eliminate it.
Summary: Globalization as a Procedure of Justice
Globalization can become a procedure of justice if the decisions made by algorithms and markets are subjected to transnational oversight and justification. In a world of feedback loops, wisdom lies not in dominance, but in coordination. Globalization is a structural fact, but its quality remains a political project. It is up to us whether it transforms into digital anarchy or into an order worthy of human reason, combining technological efficiency with democratic responsibility for our shared future.
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