Deglobalization: the crisis of multilateralism and neoliberal globalization. The Brexit case study.

Abstract

The crisis of multilateralism represents one of the major changes in the field of international relations in the 21st century, after a century-long effort to integrate politics and economics. Particularly, the economic philosophy that supported international integration since the 1970s, namely Neoliberalism, has been most recently put under trial by civil society and by the revival of Nation States. This thesis traces back the development of Neoliberalism as the hegemonic economic philosophy since the late 20th century and the subtle connections between neoliberal integration and US foreign policy interests, taking into consideration the cases of Chile and East Asia. The incredible reach of the economic trinity (International Monetary Fund, World Bank and World Trade Organization) has entailed venomous social effects by prioritizing economic stability over social stability. Uprisings all over the world acknowledge the controversial effects of Neoliberalism and they claim a reform of neoliberal bodies, if not their dismantlement. The question I forward in this thesis is whether Neoliberalism is able to reform itself to overcome its contradictions and to answer to society’s claims, or, whether recent developments in international politics allow us to forward the hypothesis that time is ripe for a new economic and social narrative for the 21st century. Among these recent development, Brexit represents the shocking revolt of the First World to international integration and neoliberal politics. A detailed investigation of the roots of discontent behind the Brexit vote confirms that, among alternatives to neoliberal globalization, the revival of nationalism is taking the lead.