1 vaccine, 2 supply chains, 3 Internets: A new abacus for a divided world?
If the world economy gets pulled apart into different blocs, it would be prudent for Asean to take stances and make choices based on each issue, not a country.
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IN 2005, Thomas Friedman told us that the world had become "flat"- a seamless level playing field between industrial and emerging markets operating in a large, interconnected global supply chain.
A lot has happened in just 15 years. Fault lines have appeared in a flat world. A global arms race for cutting-edge technologies, the emergence of China as a global power, strongmen politicians voted in by stoking nationalism, trade and tech cold wars, and a raging pandemic have fundamentally altered the picture.
Political economist Steven Weber, in his book Bloc By Bloc: How To Build A Global Enterprise For The New Regional Order, believes that we are transitioning into a new world order defined by "regional" blocs, dominated by the United States, China, and possibly the European Union.
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