Another great transformation is underway in China. The world’s factory is fast becoming its first electro-state, with an economy increasingly built on clean energy, AI, advanced manufacturing, and control of key strategic materials. This new model is full of promise, though it faces major challenges.

A world order without the United States has been discussed widely. One example relates to reform of the World Trade Organization, whose dispute settlement mechanism has been paralyzed by the U.S. since 2019. Now there could be a solution.

The impact on the global economic and trade landscape is unmistakable. These tariffs will establish trade frictions a a new normal and drive global supply chains toward some form of decoupling. They may also provoke countermeasures from other economies, especially given the constrained role of the WTO.

The Trump administration is fundamentally transforming the relationship between the private sector and the U.S. government. As American capitalism evolves, the underlying logic of the global economy is quietly changing with it.

Donald Trump’s tariffs — the cornerstone of his economic agenda — are closely linked to inflation, revenues, spending and the reshoring of manufacturing. They are the key to assessing Trump’s economic impact, but they come with profound uncertainty.

John Maynard Keynes’ The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1919) remains one of the most prescient critiques of postwar settlement in modern history. In it, Keynes warned that victory can hollow itself out when the victors lose their sense of humility. The punitive reparations imposed upon Germany after World War I, he argued, sowed the seeds for future instability by humiliating and impoverishing a nation that, once stripped of dignity and hope, would not long consent to the order imposed upon it. His insight was both economic as well as moral and political: sustainable peace requires magnanimity, not vengeance; it presupposes an architecture of inclusion, not one of exclusion. In today’s parlance, it rejects blocs aimed at those outside and seeks to ground relations in the idea of indivisible peace.

The unusual movements of U.S. Treasuries and the dollar reflect not only a global reassessment but also questions about America’s national power and international standing. The dollar’s hegemony may soon face a critical turning point.

Both the U.S. and China share an interest in preventing illicit finance, strengthening cybersecurity and ensuring global stability. What happens next will depend less on technology than on values and governance.

Given the profound changes in the international order and governance system, the diversification of international finance is an inevitable trend. Demand for an alternative global currency is becoming increasingly urgent.

China’s economic struggles have implications for its trading partners across the globe, notably in Europe. What can Beijing’s fight against ‘involution’ tell the world about its future trading prospects?