International Supply Chains in Times of Selective Economic Deglobalization

The theme of the article is the process of slowing down globalization, also referred to as slowbalization or deglobalization. The sense and significance of globalization have been particularly contested by the COVID-19 pandemic (characterized by lockdowns, closing borders, and disrupting of supply chains) as well as civilization challenges the most significant of which have the US-China trade war; Russia's invasion of Ukraine combined by the imposition of economic sanctions on Russia; changing the assumptions of the trade policy of Western countries, mostly the US tariffs, all of which have brought in the process of decoupling. The resulting fragmentations of supply chains and relocation of industrial resources, presented in this article, particularly in relation to the Chinese economy highlighting their causes. The article designates the geopolitical, geographical, and cultural dimensions of selective deglobalization. Noticeably, deglobalization trends have been uneven over time as well as in various countries worldwide and in relation to products/industries.