Globalization 1A03

Is The World Entering A Stage of Deglobalization?

Over the last 15 years we have seen major shifts in the world's relationship with globalization,which has been strained to say the least. Marked by rising trends of nationalism and populism that have swept across the Western World resulting in a pullback effect or countries are withdrawing from the integrated economic sphere of globalization. So what's causing all of this?

There are many reasons as to why countries are losing interest in globalization on an economic, social and political level. Economic globalization was meant to bring the world closer together by integrating nations into a global economic web that in theory is supposed to benefit developed and developing countries alike. However the integration of these separate economies has made individual countries susceptible to the actions of others. The Greek debt crisis being a prime example. When Greece hosted the 2004 Summer Olympics the country took on an absorbitant amount of debt estimated to be $15.8 billion (Gatopoulos,2010). This was one of the main factors that contributed to the Greece debt crisis of the early 2010s when the failing economy of Greece threatened to bring down the value of the EURO, a shared currency among European Union member states (Stockdale, 2025).But that's not all the 2008 financial crisis started in the United States when the housing market collapsed due to buyers and sellers of houses overprojecting their worth (Roma,2014). This went on to have impacts and ramifications felt all over the globe including in nations like Greece.

Growing discontent has also emerged due to the perceived unfairness of market globalism. Where western countries that have previously benefited from the dynamics of globalization in the 20th century, now see tremendous losses in employment and manufacturing as domestic jobs get shipped overseas to foreign labor markets in Asia, Africa and South America.

In 2020 the Coronavirus pandemic spread rapidly throughout the world due to global air travel, resulting in the shutdown of many economic sectors, shrinking the workforce, impairing academic institutions, and restricting many aspects of life. This marked a pivotal turning point away from the blueprint of globalization.

Increasing flows of migrants from 3rd world countries had also led to an overwhelmingly negative view on the social implications of globalization. This had led to many acts of violence such as the riot that broke out during The Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville,Virginia and the shootings in Christchurch,New Zealand Poway,California and El Paso,Texas (Weill,2019).

All of this has culminated in the rise of national populism which emphasizes a distancing from global affairs(Steger,2023,p.123). Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 American election and his re-election in 2024 was primarily based on a campaign addressing the anti-globalist mindset.

“Our politicians have aggressively pursued a policy of globalization, moving our jobs, our wealth and our factories to Mexico and overseas. Globalization has made the financial elite, who donate to politicians, very, very wealthy… but it has left millions of our workers with nothing but poverty and heartache.”

-Donald Trump (June 2016)(Stockdale,2025)

Trump has tried to rectify this by using tariffs as a means to achieve economic and national protectionism. Most notably on China, as the relationship between these two superpowers becomes increasingly defined by competing regional interests known as a zero-sum game where one country's rising influence comes at the expense of its rival (Prasad,2023).

President Trump's ‘America First’ motto that calls upon the defense of national interests supported by the American people to achieve its goals. Vice president JD Vance has also weighed in using the concept “ordo amoris” within the Catholic doctrines of Christianity. It states that the ethical obligations of individuals are to concentric circles starting with the love of the family, then the neighbor, community, nation and so on (Sargent,2025).

This diversion away from the ideology of neoliberalism which promotes economic deregulation privatization and integrated trade is not just occurring within America but around the world more broadly (Stockdale,2025.). On January 31st 2020 Britain left the European Union, Vladimir Putin maintains an autocratic rule over Russia being bolstered by national prowess as the war in Ukraine rage is on, or the anti-immigration rhetoric that can be seen by Viktor Orban's administration in Hungary and that of Poland as well.

While many nations may be taking a step outside the globalization framework, this does not mean that globalization will disappear but rather change, becoming more fragmented and schismatic. What we know for certain is that ideology will strain the bonds of globalization both politically and economically, but digital services and shared media will continue to heavily influence globalization (van der Marel,2020). The spread of ideas and information that is occurring at such a rapid speed is like nothing ever seen before in human history. It will most certainly have a part to play in the rise of national populism, the changing nature of globalization and the future to come.