Across leading economies, a mix of economic populism, nativism, and anti-elitism is challenging policies and beliefs favoring greater economic integration, trade, openness, and intercultural exchange. While Brexit and the election of Donald Trump are the most notable data points from 2016, several European countries have for years grappled with rising anti-EU-, anti-immigrant-, and anti-establishment sentiments; nationalism appears on the rise in Russia, China, and India; governments from Turkey to the Philippines and Indonesia are openly defying international norms while riding populist waves; and faith in governing elites has been crushed from Brazil and Mexico to South Africa and South Korea.

Do these geographically dispersed developments constitute a coherent trend that heralds an end to globalization as we know it? Or does the emerging “anti-globalization narrative” gloss over important local and regional variation? And what are the implications for business of a world in which the physical costs of moving goods, people, and information continue to fall while the political costs and uncertainties appear to be on the rise?

This course does not begin with answers. Rather, our focus is on asking questions, gathering data, comparing and contrasting results, and piecing together a picture that can inform further inquiry, debate, and ultimately decision-making.

Course Date & Time

Dates: February – April 20, 2017
Class meeting days: Tuesdays and Thursdays
Eastern Standard Time/ New York time – 10:00–11:30 a.m. EST

Instructor