The next panel examined the evolving architecture of global trade and the geopolitical realignments shaping capital flows. Dr. Deborah Elms, Head of Trade Policy at Hinrich Foundation, described today’s environment as the beginning of a reorganization rather than the end of globalization. After roughly eighty years of economic integration that had governed global commerce, she noted, the system was “smashed” by protectionist shocks and political upheaval – April 2 marking the symbolic breaking point.
