The liberal international order is slowly crumbling. With this formulation on the cover, the latest issue of the British magazine The Economist was released.
“The order that governed the world economy for many years after the Second World War has been undermined. Today it is on the brink of collapse. An alarming number of triggers could precipitate a slide into anarchy, where might makes right and war once again becomes the refuge of great powers,” the publication writes.
The breakdown of the old order is visible everywhere, the magazine believes. One of its signs is sanctions, which are being applied four times more frequently than in the 1990s. There is also a “war of subsidies,” where countries led by China and the USA pour investments into their economies.
Moreover, “global capital flows are beginning to fragment,” although the position of the dollar remains stable for now. And international institutions are greatly agitated.
“Institutions that upheld the old system either have already ceased to exist or are rapidly losing trust. Next year marks the 30th anniversary of the World Trade Organization, but it will have spent over five years in an artificial pause of stasis due to neglect from America. The IMF is embroiled in an identity crisis, stuck between the green agenda and ensuring financial stability. The UN Security Council is paralyzed. And supranational courts, such as the International Court, are increasingly becoming weapons of warring parties,” writes The Economist.
Journalists believe that now clubs of like-minded countries, not globalized institutions, will solve the world’s problems. This increases the risks of intensified wars and ecological catastrophes. And it also threatens the decline of social standards, which peaked in the 1990s-2000s when the liberal world order was at the height of its power.
