Globalisation, full speed ahead or time to slow down ?

By Alice Guilhon

Executive President
SKEMA Business School

In 2025, we can see that globalisation is still with us. It even continues to structure trade and foster the flow of data, capital and ideas. However, it now looks rather different. In 2025, globalisation no longer resembles the triumphant phenomenon of the 1990s and 2000s. Since the crisis of 2008, a slowdown has set in: trade flows are stagnating; geopolitical tensions are redrawing the map from top to bottom; fragmentation into blocs is settling into a permanent reality and a new order.

International Economics professor Laurent Ferrara believes we have even entered a “slowbalisation” phase. The major cycles of globalisation have always involved a series of crises and disruptions, and the 2008 disaster marked a turning point, exacerbated by the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the return of protectionist policies. Ioannis Bournakis, professor of Macroeconomics, thinks that productivity and technology distribution issues remain central. Globalisation acts as a channel for spillovers: it enables the circulation of innovations, improved productivity and economic convergence. However, if flows slow down or become fragmented, these positive effects may be weakened, widening disparities between countries and aggravating inequalities. You will find all these insights in the Eye of Knowledge section in this latest issue of Glimpse.

Globalisation is a multifaceted phenomenon that is not limited to economic exchanges alone. It also encompasses cultural, technological and political aspects. Some companies embody these changes. For instance, Saint-Gobain, the world leader in lightweight, sustainable building solutions, headed in Latin America between 2021 and 2025 by Javier Gimeno, has gone for a considered approach to globalisation based on proximity and decentralisation. This means a pragmatic response to the vulnerabilities revealed by the health crisis and logistical tensions, i.e. producing as closely as possible to markets, adapting innovation to local situations and giving subsidiaries a high degree of autonomy. For its part, Google Cloud, where Anthony Cirot (SKEMA 2000) heads the EMEA South region, is following a different but complementary approach: building a powerful, global, consistent infrastructure while respecting real local situations as regards language, culture and regulations.

These examples show that globalisation is not dead, but taking on a new look. Less rapid and more selective, it requires a refined assessment of tensions, interdependencies and new opportunities. Understanding it involves cross-disciplinary expertise in terms of economics, geopolitics and business dynamics. This issue of Glimpse invites readers to consider this analysis, explore a globalisation wavering between speeding up and slowing down, and thus more clearly grasp the lines of force and areas of fragility in a constantly changing world.