ABSTRACT
The author revisits the four waves of challenges and conducts a more detailed analysis of their impacts on the world’s three biggest economic blocs: the US, China, and the European Union (EU). Based on the in-depth analysis, it portrays what is to come in the future. First, the tables have really turned, and until a cure is widely released, we expect more countries implementing protective measures to curb the spread of the virus. Second, the trade war is an integral part of the USA’s economic nationalism. We can clearly see a tug-of-war happening between China and the US, where one pulls the rope harder whenever it sees the other side engaged in unflattering actions. Third, from the perspective of the current Biden administration, free trade remains a win-lose, and not a win-win, game. This will lead to a series of actions that will continue to undermine the existing multilateral trading network. Lastly, the new race, in the name of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), is another way to regain the leading position in the global trading system. Security, peacekeeping, technology, and trade are remarkably interconnected. The high level of uncertainty brought by the four waves will remain in the limelight for a while, as globalization did not keep its promises to the victims and losers of the process. The enemies of globalization already jumped on the wagon to the city of deglobalization.
