The Socio-economics of Geopolitical Change

The hope engendered by the end of the Cold War's great power struggle was quickly dashed by a progression of seemingly disjointed setbacks in the form of economic crises, regional wars based on nationalism and ethnicity, and global crime and terrorism. These varied challenges stem from the transformation of the post-war global political economy of bounded capitalism, in which domestic social welfare policies mitigated the rapid spread of an international liberal economic order. This status quo, created by the United States and ts partners, is in flux as epochal demographic and economic changes remake the international system. Social welfare plays a central role in this transformation, as developed states struggle to pay for their systems and governments' incapacity stokes citizens' discontent in developing states. Any attempt to deal with coming challenges must address the deeper social and economic transformations at work, rather than focusing piecemeal on their symptoms.