Global Discord

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Can the international economic and legal system endure amidst today’s fractured geopolitics? Democracies are engaged in a prolonged contest with authoritarian states, intertwining public policy with global security. The author presents principles for sustainable international cooperation, demonstrating how democracies can engage with China and other illiberal regimes while preserving core political values. Drawing on three decades of experience as a central banker and regulator, he applies these principles to the international monetary order, focusing on the U.S. dollar's role, trade and investment regimes, and the financial system. By integrating history, economics, and political and legal philosophy, the author offers a fresh perspective on international relations. He challenges traditional intellectual frameworks from Hobbes, Kant, and Grotius, instead utilizing ideas from Hume, Williams, and modern mechanism-design economists. This new political realism emphasizes the importance of power and interests while maintaining a moral compass. For institutions to endure, incentives must align with values. The foundation of international cooperation should be legitimacy, fostering a world of concentric circles where collaboration is stronger with those we trust and fear the least.