The pandemic has accelerated a shift from globalisation towards autarky, with countries increasingly prioritising self-sufficiency.

In January 2017, Chinese President Xi Jinping presented China as a key advocate for globalisation, promising to continue fostering international trade and cooperation. This seemed like a smooth transition of economic leadership from the United States under Donald Trump, who was preparing for a more isolationist approach. However, the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic has drastically altered the global economic landscape.

Rather than the sustained growth driven by free trade that many expected, the pandemic has exposed vulnerabilities in global supply chains and deepened mistrust between countries. This has led many nations to turn inward, pushing for economic nationalism and autarky, or self-sufficiency.

The idea of autarky, once associated with the early Soviet Union and the economic policies of Adolf Hitler, has resurfaced as countries rethink their reliance on global trade. This shift is apparent in the decisions of countries like China, which has backtracked on coal commitments, and in the UK, where figures like the ‘chicken king’ are calling for a rethinking of food production systems to boost domestic capacity. This growing trend toward self-reliance threatens to reshape the post-pandemic world order, moving away from globalisation to a more fragmented, isolated economic system.