Even before US President Donald Trump's assault on the global economy, it was experiencing not only a structural crisis, but also a crisis of the values that once justified and guided international cooperation. The decline of multilateralism is a consequence not only of geopolitical tensions and the weakening of international organizations, but also of the loss of common principles of international cooperation, a shift to unilateralism, transactional diplomacy, and zero-sum nationalism.
The political far right has accelerated this process by ridiculing ideals such as gender equality, climate justice, and indigenous rights. This culture war rhetoric is undermining the ethical foundations of both democracy and global cooperation, and a populist backlash against solidarity and collective responsibility is already taking hold on the international stage. Nationalism is displacing multilateralism, and international cooperation is losing its moral compass.
Hannah Arendt rightly warned that the absence of shared values diminishes human reasoning and opens the door to authoritarianism. Trust disappears, cooperation becomes purely transactional, and instability becomes the norm. International governance is weakened, and diplomacy is used for coercion. Perceived injustice and inefficiency fuel resentment and resistance. A world order driven solely by geopolitics and broadly defined national security inevitably breeds short-sighted approaches, deepens divisions, and increases the chances of major conflict. No side, no matter how powerful, is immune to these risks.
Revitalizing global economic governance is not just about reviving the past. Yes, the founding documents of the post-war order (starting with the UN Charter) enshrined shared ideals such as human dignity and solidarity, but that order also reflected, and complicated, the imbalances of power of the time. Any new system must be based on the principles of self-interest, solidarity, sovereign equality, and environmental protection. Old arrangements need to be renewed, but in a way that takes into account current needs while ensuring broad representation.
Creating a new value-based system is not a utopia, it is a strategic imperative. Institutions that are perceived as fair are more resilient and more likely to achieve broad compliance with norms and rules, which is crucial when globally coordinated action is needed to address our major challenges.
Moreover, reputational capital is more important than ever. In a multipolar world, the level of influence depends on legitimacy. Without inclusive prosperity, social cohesion and adequate provision of public goods (global, regional, national or local), long-term well-being and sustainability cannot be achieved. Fighting hunger, poverty and inequality is not charity, it is a smart strategy.
Issues of equity, access to finance and the spread of green technologies will come to the fore as countries transform their economies to meet climate goals. Without global norms to guide industrial policies towards sustainability, the green transition risks reproducing old hierarchies and dependencies. The purpose of reforming the international trading system (currently deeply regressive: net financial flows are directed from the global South to the global North) is to ensure a green transition without the pitfalls of a world order shaped by and in the interests of a minority.
The lessons of history should be recalled. The Bretton Woods institutions and the first trade structures (such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) emerged from the catastrophe of World War II, when world leaders realized the need for values-based cooperation, even though their efforts were uneven. The 1948 Havana Charter even called for full employment and protection of workers' rights (but proved to be "stillborn" because it was not ratified by the United States).
Yet the neoliberal turn of the 1980s brought policies of fiscal austerity, deregulation, and structural adjustment that held back many countries, exacerbated inequality, and suppressed labor rights and environmental concerns. The creation of the World Trade Organization in 1995 reflected this shift: while promising fairness and predictability, it prioritized liberalization and enforcement. This fueled popular discontent (from the Seattle protests of 1999 to continued criticism of trade rules on agriculture and intellectual property) and revealed how disconnected the system had become from social and environmental priorities.
Despite these failures, fundamental values remain a moral compass. Reformers, civil society movements, and many leaders continue to invoke them as a way to advance an alternative world order—an order of democratic decision-making, sustainable development, climate justice. These are not abstract ideals, they are fundamental values. They are tools for building a more effective system.
Discussions about values are not enough. To ensure that the global architecture reflects and reinforces shared norms, rather than weakening them, international organizations must methodically implement their conclusions.
To move forward, values must be complemented by accountability mechanisms. This means improving institutional oversight, expanding civil society participation, and creating tools to measure progress not just in terms of GDP, but also in terms of equity and well-being. Discussions on the principles must take place in the real world – at the level of the G20 (which brings together the largest economies of the global South and North), the BRICS+ group (which brings together the most important developing countries), the UN financing for development process (including the upcoming summit in Seville), and at UN climate change conferences (starting with COP30 in Belem). This topic must also be at the heart of all discussions on reform of the UN system, including the revision of the UN Charter.
Fragmentation, inequality, loss of functionality, all of these are not inevitable. They are a matter of choice. The alternative to the weakening of the order is not a retreat into nationalism or technocracy, but a bold affirmation of values by states, civil society, and the private sector that will help us overcome the difficulties on the path to a more humane and sustainable economic order.
The author is co-president of the Global Fund for the New Economy; she was special advisor on international affairs to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2025. (translation: NR)
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