The Global Economic and Political Landscape through the Lenses of Multiple and Multifaceted Crises

The world’s economic and political landscape is changing fast, and the world’s developing economies have become sizeable contributors to both global economic growth and also to political instability. The 2008 Global Economic and Financial Crisis is identified as an inflection point marking the decisive shift towards increasing domestic and worldwide economic imbalances and inequalities. The changing economic and political scenery has contributed to strengthening the ongoing criticisms of the effects of globalization which is associated with rising inequalities particularly at the country level and also in the Western economies. Furthermore, the emergence of new geo-economic and geopolitical dynamics derived from the polarization of wealth within countries has intensified as states have increased their competition for economic and political power. Moreover, the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and diffusion in 2020 has further disrupted global economic dynamics due to the economic standstill imposed across most countries. The economic and political landscape has subsequently been under more stress by the compounded effects of the energy shock resulting from the Russia-Saudi Arabia price war leading to significant global GDP rate adjustments. The 2022 Russia/Ukraine military crisis has further contributed to enhancing global uncertainty levels, bringing substantial concerns regarding the international community’s ability to address the challenges associated with the evolving current geo-economic and geopolitical dynamics revealing the complexities existing in the international political and economic framework. This chapter aims at shedding some light on these complexities.