Multilateralism Under Stress

Few doubt that the global economic order has shifted in the aftermath of the Great Recession. After all, the advanced economies are struggling as can be seen in their slow-growth recoveries and major challenges. The US is mired in a high-unemployment, high-debt situation with low levels of consumer confidence; Japan, even before the recent natural disaster and nuclear accident, was in a demographically induced low-growth trap; and Europe is struggling to end a way to accommodate the economic crises of Greece, Portugal, Spain and Ireland without sacrificing the euro or the principle of no debt default. It raises concerns for globalization in as much as these advanced economies have heretofore been the custodians of the multilateral system.