Globalisation is defined as the process through which the globe has become so interconnected

that a range of non-state actors, global trends, and events undermine territorial borders and
state sovereignty; it is divided into three types: economic, political, and cultural.

In his book "The End of History and the Last Man," Francis Fukuyama argues that the end of
the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union established liberal democracy as the most
universally recognized type of administration. He also predicted a "capitalist creep," in which
increasing democratic and economic freedoms would be complemented by increased
individual liberty. This can be seen most clearly in the rise of economic liberalism, also known
as the "Washington Consensus," which has resulted in the dominance of free-market principles
in global trade, with the United States serving as its pioneers. The International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and World Bank (WB), both heavily westernized, US-led financial institutions responsible
for global financial stability, are examples of this. Economic globalisation has been aided by the
expansion of these institutions and free-market ideas, as governments have become
increasingly integrated and interdependent, resulting in a bigger transnational flow of goods,
services, and capital.

The globalisation of financial markets, while providing for greater economic relationships
between nation-states, has also been a direct cause of financial crises around the world. For
example, the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, a US bank, triggered a sub-prime mortgage
crisis, which sparked the 2008-09 global financial crisis, during which stock markets
plummeted and the global economy entered recession. Despite the fact that, aside from
COVID-19's impact on the global economy, this can be described as one of the worst economic
crises in history for global politics, it demonstrates how, at the time, economic activity was
reliant on the United States, and arguably still is, with Wall Street still serving as the world's
central global trading hub, the use of the US dollar as the primary form of international
currency, and the fact that the US dollar is still the world's reserve currency.

We could conclude, based on this overwhelming evidence, that the United States remains the
world's most powerful hegemon. However, the growth of developing countries like China
suggests that the United States may no longer be the only economic superpower, and this
should be the paradigm given to international affairs. Since Deng Xiaoping's ascension
following Mao Zedong's death in 1976, and Xiaoping's introduction of far-reaching market-
economy reforms that opened China to foreign investment and western technology, exposed
its workforce to the global economy, and opened its borders to economic globalisation, China
has become one of the world's fastest-growing economies. This may be seen in the fact that
China's annual growth rate has been between 8% and 10% for nearly 30 years, down to 6.7
percent in 2016 and 2.3 percent in 2020 (despite COVID-19), despite the fact that its economy
is now 90 times larger than it was in 1978. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB),
which was founded in 2016 as a challenge to the Bretton Woods institutions, would invest in
Bangladesh, India, and the Philippines in 2020 in reaction to the outbreak of COVID-19,
demonstrating its economic dominance. Not only that, but as of 2017, the United States owed
China $1.051 trillion in debt as a result of Chinese credit. Furthermore, as a result of the rise of
the Trump administration in the United States and the decline in humanitarian aid ($48 billion
in 2017), China has surpassed the United States as the largest neocolonial power, surpassing
the United States as Africa's largest investor, with a total investment of $200 billion in 2014.
However, China remains a developing country, with nearly 400 million people living on less
than $5.50 per day (as of 2016)[2], and while the major cities of Wuhan, Shanghai, and Beijing
are industrialized and have higher living standards, rural areas such as Suopo and Duoyishu
have lower living standards and slower economic activity. As a result, despite the fact that we
have been living in an ever-globalised world since the end of the Cold War, we can see a
pattern of US hegemony over the global economy declining even before the COVID-19
pandemic hit. China's radical free-market reforms and principles have seen rapid and increased
growth for the past three decades, but will we see a decline this year due to the damaging
COVID-19? And how would Biden deal with the splintered political system that Trump has left
behind? Will he pick up the pieces and try to reestablish the United States as the world's
hegemon?