## A More Fragmented World-letter

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [A More Fragmented World-letter](https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2022/06/a-more-fragmented-world-letter)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/en/publications/fandd/issues/2022/06/a-more-fragmented-world-letter/index.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/en/publications/fandd/issues/2022/06/a-more-fragmented-world-letter/index.json)
- [Bundle manifest](/en/publications/fandd/issues/2022/06/a-more-fragmented-world-letter/bundle-manifest.json)

## Bibliographic details
- Authors: GITA BHATT
- Published: June 2, 2022

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### Overview
- Publication: F&D Magazine
- Title: A More Fragmented World
- Author: GITA BHATT
- Date: June 2022
- Reading time indicator: Less than a minute(0 words) Read
- Central claim: "The rare confluence of geopolitical, economic, and technological forces now confronting the world may reverberate for generations."
- Framing: The piece convenes thought leaders to analyze trends amid "a slowing global recovery, rising inflation, deglobalization, and shrinking policymaking space."

### Immediate risks and shocks
- The war (Ukraine) is identified as the most immediate risk and is described as:
  - thrusting the world into "a fraught period of geopolitical realignment, supply disruptions, food and energy insecurity, and more volatile financial markets."
  - capable of shaking "social and political stability in some countries" and weakening the global ability to address climate change.
- Specific consequences explored in the issue:
  - Sanctions against Russia with "unprecedented consequences" prompting a rethink of sanctions as a weapon of economic warfare (Nicholas Mulder).
  - Economic impact of refugees fleeing Ukraine (Giovanni Peri).
  - A food crisis that "threatens millions with hunger" (Picture This series).
  - Soaring war-induced energy prices framed by some contributors as an opportunity "to spur the transition to green energy."

### Geopolitical and economic fragmentation
- Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas warns of a sudden geopolitical shift revealing "hidden underlying fault lines" and a world fragmenting into "distinct economic blocs with different ideologies, political systems, technology standards, cross-border payment and trade systems, and reserve currencies."
- Debate on currency dynamics:
  - Some predict geopolitical competition and new technologies will end the dollar's dominance.
  - Eswar Prasad argues "the dollar will become more entrenched as the global go-to currency."

### Policy responses and recommendations
- Tharman Shanmugaratnam: Greater investment in global public goods is "even more urgent" in a more fragmented world; this will require "unprecedented public-private collaboration and a stronger, more effective multilateralism."
- Emphasis on balancing multipolarity and cohesion:
  - Priority articulated: to "accommodate a multipolar world without becoming more polarized."

### Broader issue highlights in the same issue
- Research and commentary covered elsewhere in the issue:
  - Raj Chetty and Nathanial Hendren: increasing upward economic mobility of low-income youth.
  - Barry Eichengreen and others: the erosion of trust among the young.
  - Noam Angrist: learning lost during the pandemic.
  - Eric Hanushek and Ludger Woessmann: the basic skills gap and why meeting the SDGs remains a distant goal.
  - Profile: Harvard’s Melissa Dell.
- Historical perspective:
  - Patricia Clavin: turbulent times can energize actors and ideas that lead to new and better modes of cooperation.

*F&D Magazine — A More Fragmented World, GITA BHATT, June 2022.*

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## Content in this bundle

- **A More Fragmented World**
  - [A More Fragmented World (Markdown version)](/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2022/june/editors-letter.pdf.md){rel="alternate" type="text/markdown"}
  - [A More Fragmented World (PDF)](/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2022/june/editors-letter.pdf){rel="external" type="application/pdf"}

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2022/06/a-more-fragmented-world-letter_