Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 01/2010

The Great Regression? Financial Crisis in an Age of Global Interdependence

Kristian Kurki (ed.), Toby Archer, Vadim Kononenko, Matti Nojonen, Raimo Väyrynen

December 2009

Finnish Institute for International Affairs

Abstract

The financial crisis and the ensuing global economic downturn have been the focal point of news coverage and policy analysis for over a year now, and speculation has been rife about how things will pan out. At one extreme are those who shrug the situation off as a significant yet transient dent in economic development, with marginal repercussions on the global system. At the other end are those touting the crisis as the first step in an epoch-making transition in the global power balance, where rapidly expanding economies like China, Brazil and India will make gains on the hitherto dominant developed nations, shifting the distribution of power in the world. Whatever the eventual outcome, there is no denying that the crisis’s impact on international relations will be significant.