This essay, on the past and future of liberal international order, was my Observer column this week. It was published on 19 January 2025, under the headline “Despite the eulogies, the postwar order did little for peace – and fuelled the rise of populism”. The historian Steven Shapin opened his account of The Scientific Revolution with the line: “There was no such thing as the Scientific Revolution, and this is a book about it.” It is tempting to say much the same about the “liberal international […]

Categories: International, Politics • Tags: america, anthony blinken, donald trump, end of globalisation, end of history, end of neoliberalism, francis fukuyama, globalisation, john lewis gaddis, liberal international order, lio, military intervention project, neoliberalism, populism, postwar order, quinn slobodian, stven shapin, us military interventions, us wars, usa