The recent global financial crisis: de-linking security-protectionism and re-linking fraudulent misrepresentation in MNCs and the global market: contending existing issues in international law and international relations

The global financial crisis that started in the late 2000s incited a heatingdebate
in the academic-circles, with divergent viewpoints. The view that dominated the debate between 2008 and early 2010 was politics that is protectionist-bid of the US and UK—eg, the war on terror, particularly in Afghanistan; and/or quest for mineral-resource wealth—eg, the US invasion of Iraq. However, since mid-2010 the perspective has shifted in most quarters to global-business with some crucial legal issues. This article argues that the primary problem is not that the GFC has affected businesses, rather the reverse is the case—the fraudulent business activities of multinational corporations (MNCs) and poor corporate governance accountability issues, specifically fraudulent misrepresentations are at the root of the crisis. This article examines on one hand the impact of
politics—security-protectionism and on the other hand the implication of fraudulent misrepresentations within the global-business on the recent GFC. This is examined in theory and analysed by applying such theory in practice using two brief empirical illustrative cases: the US-China strained economic relations and the Euro-zone crisis; as well as other examples such as Lehman, Enron, Anderson, Mediaset and Mahindra.