The past decades have seen the substantial globalization of the world economy. The debate has long begun, however, over whether the world economy has already de-globalized — and whether extraordinary global events such as Covid-19 pandemic have shaken the global economy, creating unprecedented threats to global value chains (GVCs). Based on his paper, “De‐Globalisation? Global Value Chains in the Post‐COVID‐19 Age”, Professor Pol Antràs of Harvard University examines the key drivers for the future of globalization and how major economies within the GVCs would need to react in the post-pandemic world.

In a webinar conducted by the Canadian International Council, Alejandro Reyes, director of knowledge dissemination at the Asia Global Institute, analyzed alongside other experts how the concepts of pandemics, inequalities, human rights and nation states are interconnected in the globalized world.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been framed as a strategy that improves regional connectivity while strengthening infrastructure, investment and trade ties between China and other countries, particularly those in Asia. In this webinar, David M Lampton of Johns Hopkins University, co-author of “Rivers of Iron: Railroads And Chinese Power In Southeast Asia”, examines China’s effort to create an intercountry railway system that connects the country with its seven Southeast Asian neighbors, including Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. He also highlights the political strengths and weaknesses of the plan and evaluate the abilities of impacted countries to respond to the BRI.

Great power competition has again forced its way into the consciousness of the global public. Nevertheless, the new round of competition is evolving with unprecedented uncertainties. The two most powerful states in the world, the United States and China, are expected to be at the centre of this contest. Based on his paper “Great Power Competition in the Marketplace for World Order”, Professor Danny Quah of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy examines the competition between the great powers and the current state of the world order. Using the marketplace model, he also demonstrates the application of the model to understand the role of Southeast Asian countries, such as Indonesia and India, in US-China relations.