POWER-SHIFTS IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY. TRANSITION TOWARDS A MULTIPOLAR WORLD ORDER

The paper aims to analyze the new realities and trends related to the new polarity of the global economy, and thus the reconfiguration of global power centers, a process characterized by two simultaneous trends: the rise of new powers and the relative decline of traditional powers. At the beginning of 21st century, global power is suffering two major changes: on the one hand it manifests a transition from West to East, from Atlantic to the Asia-Pacific, and on the other hand, a diffusion from state to non-state actors. Current global economic power has a multipolar distribution, shared between the United States, European Union, Japan and BRICs, with no balance of power between these poles, opposed by the strong ambition of rising countries, China especially, China that rivals the traditional powers represented by the developed countries. The evolution of the main macroeconomic indicators given by the most important global organizations, shows a gradual transition towards a multipolar world. Therefore, the United States is and will remain for a long period of time the global economic leader. However, as China, India and Brazil are growing rapidly, and Russia is looking for lost status, the world is becoming multipolar.