Economist Geeta Gopinath believes geopolitics is an enduring force in global policy India News
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Speaking on the sidelines of the Indiaspora Forum 2026 in Bengaluru on Monday, the Harvard economics professor and former International Monetary Fund First Deputy Managing Director Geeta Gopinath warned that geopolitics is now a permanent, transformative force in global policy. Gopinath said the world is moving away from the post-Cold War era towards a scenario defined by ‘de-risking’ and defence.“Countries are rapidly building defense capabilities and securing supply chains to source essential inputs such as semiconductors and rare earths,” Gopinath said, citing the Iran conflict as the primary catalyst. “It’s a paradigm shift; it’s no longer the world we’re used to.”
Gopinath, who is a leading global voice on trade and investment, felt that some change was about to happen and there would be no going back. “There has been some dissatisfaction with the global trading system for some time now. There is dissatisfaction with what happened during the pandemic to countries that could not get supplies while being dependent on imports. All this has naturally brought us to where we are,” he said.And now he feels it is important to take a hard look at international organizations and see what needs to change in the context of global trade. He said, “There are people who complain about job losses at home because of trade, and also the fact that it is not a level playing field. It is time to look at what a better rules-based order might look like.” But in his opinion whether this will happen or not is not decided yet.