Description
Since the beginning of the 1990s, globalization process and the diffusion of liberal values and economic statements were announced as the appropriate way of acting for all countries aspiring to achieve better standards in terms of development. Although the diffusion was very active, including via multilateral organizations, in the 2000s it became clear the announced benefits had not been fulfilled leading to more and more criticism. The diagnosis was that instead of bringing more equality between countries, what was being revealed was the contrary: there were some actors that noticeably were benefiting more while the recommended implementation of the liberal agenda was leading to more inequality between and within countries. This concentration process was discussed and debated throughout the next decades and left consequences, including when taking into consideration the minimum state platform and it effects in terms of welfare and social protection. In this direction, the purpose of this article is to discuss within the contemporary scenario, what the role of international institutions for development is on reducing inequalities inter and intra countries. On the other hand, taking the discussion to the institutional framework and Global Governance, what can be done in terms of international cooperation and by which path it should be pursued, so that a better result could be achieved in terms of development and reducing inequalities on global scope?
Regionalism became a way of dealing with contemporary challenges and this grouping could be geographically related (as the free trade areas) or broader agreements even without the geographical component, also called by “new regionalism”, referring to the global geopolitical reordering after the end of the Cold War.
Analyzing new agreements for international cooperation, new economic development strategies, insertion into a new dimension of the international division of labor, and also the adherence to new institutional arrangements for financing development (as NDB and AIIB initiatives), represent key issues to understand contemporary scenario in which this debate has become essential. This allows a critical reflection on the conditions of the present, the past constraints and the future possibilities, trying to understand the consequences and effects of this range of transformations.
In this sense, by adopting the perspective and framework proposed by the International Political Economy approach, debating the role of new international institutions and the conduct of policy makers, understanding how these dynamics affect the regions across the globe, also bringing to discussion the relevance of revisiting and checking new possibilities in terms of Global Governance to face ongoing challenges related to development process and combating inequality(ies), are themes addressed by this article.
