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Who Really Controls the Global Economy?

By Prof. Khalid Wassef Al-Wazani

Professor of Economics and Public Policy

Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government

Who really controls the global economy today? It is a question that is no longer theoretical—it is unfolding in real time. For decades, the answer seemed straightforward. Markets drove growth, governments set the rules, and globalization expanded under a system anchored by institutions born out of the Bretton Woods era. The US dollar dominated, international institutions coordinated, and economic integration followed the logic of efficiency.

That era is now under visible strain. What we are witnessing is not merely economic disruption, but a deeper contest over who sets the rules of the global system. The assumption of a single dominant pole, a single currency, and a single economic order is fading. In its place, a more fragmented and contested landscape is emerging. The established powers are not retreating quietly. Instead, they are actively reshaping the terrain—leveraging control over critical resources, supply chains, financial systems, and technological infrastructure to maintain influence. Energy routes, food systems, data flows, and capital movements have all become instruments of power.

This is no longer just economics. It is economic statecraft. Recent years have made this shift unmistakable. Trade is increasingly weaponized, technology is securitized, and investment flows are guided as much by geopolitics as by market logic. The rules of globalization are being rewritten—not through consensus, but through competition. At the same time, emerging powers are not passive observers. They are building parallel systems, financial arrangements, trade corridors, and institutional frameworks that reduce dependence on the traditional centers of power. These efforts may still be incomplete, but their direction is clear.

History suggests that such transitions are rarely smooth. As dominant powers face relative decline, they often respond with greater assertiveness. Yet this very assertiveness can accelerate the shift they seek to resist, as more agile and adaptive actors seize new opportunities. The result is a global economy that is no longer governed by a single system, but shaped by overlapping and competing orders.

For countries outside this core rivalry, the implications are profound. Alignment is no longer binary, and dependence is increasingly risky. The strategic imperative is diversification—of partners, markets, and economic pathways. In this new reality, the question is no longer who governs the global economy, but how power is contested within it. And perhaps the most important lesson is this: in an era of shifting power, those who rely on a single system risk being defined by it, while those who diversify can help shape what comes next.