ABSTRACT
The world is now facing four strong waves of challenges that will reshape the considerable flows of goods and services and the global trading system itself; the COVID-19 pandemic, the US-China trade war, economic nationalism, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Regardless of the timespan, it is certain that the impacts of the four waves can trigger a paradigm shift that will forever change the way trade and investment is conducted. In this chapter, the focus of the research centers on examining the following questions: How does each wave reshape the global trading system? And what are the signs that explicitly show the threat that these waves carry with them? The author discusses the evolution of the global trading system from its structural point of view and explains how rapidly the situation is changing. These challenges, as mentioned, have different timespans and scope of effects. The author argues persuasively that the trend in which interdependency among different countries around the globe continues to increase is coming to an end.
