How Extreme Inequality Undermines International Cooperation
Multilateral efforts are failing to adequately respond to critical global challenges, including the climate crisis and persistent poverty and inequality. While some have blamed the deadlock solely on rising geopolitical tensions between powerful countries, such a focus is incomplete. Rather, a key reason for failures of international cooperation is extreme economic inequality. Today, the world’s richest 1% own more wealth than 95% of humanity.
The immense concentration of wealth, driven significantly by increased monopolistic corporate power, has allowed large corporations and the ultrarich who exercise control over them to use their vast resources to shape global rules in their favor, often at the expense of everyone else. This nexus of extreme wealth inequality, corporate power, and political influence drives a movement toward global oligarchy, in which ultrawealthy individuals — often enabled by the richest countries — exert disproportionate influence over policy decisions.
Powerful corporations and ultrawealthy individuals often have an interest in maintaining this status quo by impeding international efforts to forge equitable multilateral solutions to crucial global problems, including efforts relating to tax cooperation, pandemic response, and sovereign debt. But recent initiatives, largely led by Global South countries, can reverse the movement toward global oligarchy by replacing division with solidarity. All countries have an interest in eliminating extreme concentrations of wealth that drive political inequality. A more just multilateral order — where the rich pay their fair share, public health is prioritized over profit, and countries can invest in human rights — ultimately benefits everyone.