In his TED talk, Ian Bremmer discusses the evolving landscape of global power, focusing on the question, “Who runs the world?” He reflects on the past, noting that those over 45 years old remember a bipolar world dominated by the U.S. and the Soviet Union, followed by a unipolar world where the U.S. held unrivaled power post-Soviet collapse. However, the last 15 years have seen a shift as the U.S. became less willing to police the world, and other countries began challenging established rules.Bremmer identifies three main factors leading to today’s leaderless world: Russia’s exclusion from Western institutions, China’s rise without adopting Western values, and the disenfranchisement of citizens in wealthy democracies due to globalization. He argues that these factors underpin most current geopolitical tensions.He predicts the emergence of three overlapping world orders over the next decade: a unipolar global security order dominated by the U.S., a multipolar global economic order with shared power among several nations, and a forthcoming digital order led by technology companies. This digital order, driven by tech giants, will significantly influence global power dynamics, with potential outcomes ranging from a technology cold war to a techno-polar world where tech companies are the dominant global actors. Bremmer urges accountability from these tech leaders as they wield unprecedented influence over society and democracy.
