From the Diversity of Socioeconomic Regimes to the New International Relations

Capitalizing upon several decades comparing various socio-economic regimes, this paper proposes some steps towards a geopolitical analysis of the contemporary world around seven results. First, the extraversion of quite all development modes opens a new stage in the constitution of a world system. Second, various forms of rentier regimes are back and they significantly shape international relations. Third, three different socioeconomic regimes –American finance led, Chinese competition led and rentier resources based – are interacting and setting the pace of globalization. Fourth, the other countries have to cope with this dynamics, they cannot influence significantly: some nations are less equal than others. Fifth, instead of a uniformity brought by globalization, the growing interdependence among four zones of the world strongly differentiate their development modes. Six, the post 2008 crisis world is torn by a series of major contradictions between acute geopolitical rivalry and de facto economic complementarity. This is a blocking factor in the emergence of new global commons such as financial stability and climate preservation.  In the light of these novelties, China will probably not replace the United States as the world superpower but will be, for good (engine of growth) or bad (transmission of its financial crisis) a major actor within an unprecedented world system.