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.