The Retreat of the West: Globalization, Populism, and International Order

• In Event: Explaining US Intervention and Restraint after the Cold War

Abstract

Is the West in retreat? Is the era of Western liberal dominance led by a preeminent America over? While it is premature to declare the era of Western ascendancy over, domestic support for liberal internationalism is weakening across the West. The spread of populism is the most visible sign of this retreat, but as well show in this paper Western support for liberal internationalism has been receding for over fifteen years. Drawing on an array of cross-national data on OECD states’ investment in globalization, military spending, and global governance, we document the erosion of Western support for liberal internationalism from its Cold War apex, through the 2008 global economic downturn, down to the present. Analysis of the content of party platforms shows that as Western leaders expanded the liberal order through neoliberal globalization after the Cold War, domestic resistance increased from political parties on both the left and the right. Populists capitalized on the insecurities and resentments stoked by economic openness to pressure Western governments to soft-pedal liberal internationalism and reassert sovereignty. The current nationalist backlash against globalism represents an intensification of these processes. We discuss the implications of these findings for the future of the Western liberal order.

Authors

• Peter Trubowitz, London School of Economics

• Brian Burgoon, University of Amsterdam