Philip Stephens has a very interesting and to the point op-ed in yesterday’s Financial Times in which he speculates whether the current world-wide financial crisis signals the beginning of a new world order. Stephens argues that, in addition to the moral corrosion of western values which started with the Iraq war, the current financial crisis, which largely has come about as a result of western profligacy (notwithstanding the misguided tendency among some Europeans to point their fingers at the US), will add to a change in today’s global order weakening western influence. Stephens’ predictions become perhaps more evident when it turns out that the world economy will mainly keep afloat thanks to the emerging economies of China, India and Brazil. Of course, these countries have, over the last couple of years, asserted that international organisations and establishments fail to reflect their rise to power. In light of the current crisis, such assertions are even more opportune and it is perhaps appropriate to start addressing the composition of, for instance, the G8 or even the UN Security Council.
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