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Challenging the Inevitability of the Liberal World Order

undefined and Director, Stratfor Center for Applied Geopolitics at RANE
Rodger Baker
Director, Stratfor Center for Applied Geopolitics at RANE, Stratfor

Jul 26, 2018 | 08:00 GMT

This picture shows a session of the U.N. General Assembly from June 13.

This picture shows a session of the U.N. General Assembly from June 13. Institutions like the United Nations, the World Trade Organization and others represent the liberal world order -- a global system that is not as inevitable as first believed.

(DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images)

Highlights

  • In contrast to the ideas of some of its proponents, the liberal world order is not the destiny of all societies around the world.
  • Those seeking to implement such an order have failed because they often don't recognize realities on the ground, occasionally leading to chaos.
  • Acknowledging that the liberal world order is not inevitably for all of humanity is critical in improving our understanding of the world.

The liberal world order is neither inherently universal, nor is it the inevitable path of societies across the globe. Democracy itself evolved out of a particular strand of Western philosophy, and its application has been far from equal across place and time. But just because a Western-oriented liberal model has driven the trends of globalization, political development and economic growth for nearly the past century – and particularly since the end of the Cold War – that doesn't mean it will continue in perpetuity. Instead, there is little to indicate that the liberal world order will be the destiny of everyone....

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