Is Globalisation Dead?

Professor Jun Du, Centre for Business Prosperity,  Aston University   Globalisation has reached an inflection point. Amid rising geopolitical tensions, climate imperatives, and digital disruption, businesses face an environment in which long-standing assumptions about global trade and investment no longer hold. Yet globalisation is neither dead nor in retreat. It is evolving—structurally, strategically, and unevenly. Today, international trade is no longer primarily about liberalisation or market access. Increasingly, it is shaped by economic security, regulatory alignment, and the drive for technological sovereignty. The logic of globalisation has shifted—from tariff reduction to compliance, standards, and strategic alignment. For globally active firms, the central question is not whether globalisation will continue, but how best to engage with its new contours.   Global Trade: Resilient, But Reconfigured Despite widespread commentary on fragmentation, globalisation remains ...