International finance and the global polycrisis

It has become commonplace to suggest that we are living through a kind of ‘global polycrisis’. This article shows how the mobilisation of international finance has been at the core of political responses to four crises that are often cited as key constituents of this phenomenon: the global pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the planetary climate crisis, and the growing Sino-American geoeconomic fracture and rivalry. It also demonstrates how international finance has been mobilised for very different purposes in each case. Further, the article reveals how these distinctive forms of mobilisation have generated important innovations in the financial practices of public authorities that have both strengthened global financial cooperation and led to a more fragmented international financial order. With Trump's re-election, the fragmentary trends now have the upper hand and may soon be reinforced by an impending fifth crisis: a global financial meltdown. Taken together, these arguments highlight: the centrality of international finance in the contemporary global polycrisis; the diverse roles it plays; the significance of crises as catalysts for innovations in financial practices; the complexity of the dynamics of polycrises; and the challenges associated predicting their future trajectory.