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The Strange Death - and Possible Rebirth - of the Liberal Order

Thu, August 29, 8:00 to 9:30am, Hilton, Columbia 11

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Session Description

The extensive and contentious contemporary debate on the state and future of the liberal international order (LIO) has been sustained largely through the efforts of the United States; and it is now at risk (or is disintegrating) because of a turn in U.S. foreign policy under the highly nationalist ‘America First’ foreign policy of President Donald Trump.

The rise of a nationalist/populist foreign policy in the United States, the U.K. withdrawal from the European Union, anti-globalization and anti-European populist politics in the EU itself, dramatically change the landscape of the LIO at its core.

The roundtable will elaborate and weight the diverse shocks that have, one by one, undermined the liberal order and its legitimacy among elites and publics.

None of these shocks may match the severity of the Great Depression and rise of fascism, possibly but each has contributed to current questioning of the LIO’s future. Many of the panelists will explore these 'shocks' to the LIO including the Eurozone Crisis, the backlash against globalization and the rise of populism across the political landscape as well as the rise of Emerging powers. Finally, a number of panelists will look at the possible LIO alternative futures from Great Power competition, the possible redesign of the LIO with a different U.S. role, or even governance without governments.

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