Global geopolitical turbulence signals not the end of globalization but its structural reconfiguration. Businesses are confronting the weaponization of supply chains, the segmentation of digital ecosystems, and an increase in industrial policy competition. The next phase of global competition will favor companies that rethink organization, supply chains, and governance architectures to remain globally connected yet geopolitically separable to retain market access across competing blocks. The international order is undergoing structural transformation. War in the Middle East, the prolonged conflict in Ukraine, and major shifts in U.S. trade and foreign policy that have altered the country's traditional alliances are manifestations of a broader reconfiguration of power. Tariffs, export controls, sanctions, and the vulnerability of strategic choke points as diverse as maritime straits and semiconductor ecosystems are exposing the fragility of globally optimized supply chains and production networks....
The economist Adam Posen on the effect of the war in Iran on the world's economy and the darkening economic outlook for the United States. Plus: A shifting partisan balance of power and Ask Not: The Kennedys and the Women They Destroyed, by Maureen Callahan. In this episode of The David Frum Show, The Atlantic's David Frum opens with a discussion of the likelihood that the partisan balance of power will shift from Republicans to Democrats at state-government level. Then, David is joined by the president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Adam Posen, for a conversation about the state of the world's economy. Frum and Posen discuss the economic effect of the war in Iran, the United States' reputational hit caused by Trump's tariffs, and the chance of global recession. Finally, David ends the episode with a discussion of Ask Not: The Kennedys and the Women They Destroyed, by Maureen Callahan, and reflects on why reactions to the abuse of women by men in power seem to have become a partisan issue....
In a world leaning away from globalization, governments face a tough choice: Should they block dominant foreign companies to protect local businesses, or welcome them in hopes of fast-tracking economic growth and modernization' In his recently published book, 'Traders, Speculators, and Captains of Industry: How Capitalist Legitimacy Shaped Foreign Investment Policy in India' (Harvard University Press, November 2025), Jason Jackson, associate professor in political economy and urban planning in the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning, explains that these policy decisions aren't just math, but long-standing and often heated moral debates over how businesses should conduct themselves, and who they serve. Jackson argues that morality has a long history in economics and deserves more attention because, while ever-present in economic policy discourse, moral beliefs are often under-recognized or underappreciated. 'India is an exemplary case of ways in which moral beliefs shape economic policy decisions,' says Jackson. 'But at the same time, I think it's representative of a general feature of capitalism. It's the perfect case.'...
Despite recent trade and foreign policy turbulence, a close look at the data suggests that predictions of globalization's collapse are overstated. Global trade has continued to grow, most countries are expanding'not retreating from'international trade agreements, and U.S. tariffs, while disruptive, are constrained by exemptions, economic realities, legal limits, and public opinion. Much international business already occurs among friendly countries, and corporate 'de-risking' strategies often increase cross-border trade and investment rather than reduce them. While prudent business leaders should take threats to globalization very seriously, the evidence suggests globalization is being reshaped and rebalanced'not reversed'and companies are adapting to a more turbulent international environment....
