Trump and the End of an Era? The Liberal International Order in Perspective

ABSTRACT

The liberal international economic and political order which the United States created from the ashes of World War II and has since led is in trouble. To United States President Donald Trump, the order which provided the framework under which sovereign states agreed to follow a rules-based system of economic and political cooperation and shared multilateral governance, has not only allowed other nations (in particular, China) to take advantage of US ‘magnanimity’, but also weakened the United States economically, while asymmetric alliances compromised its military advantages. Given the sustained assault this cosmopolitan order is facing, many fear that it may not survive if Trump is re-elected in November 2020. Indeed, if the United States response to the COVID-19 pandemic is any guide, an ‘America First’ agenda, especially a hard-line approach to China, will shape US policy if Trump wins a second term.

KEYWORDS:

• Donald Trump
• US foreign policy
• liberal international order
• China
• WTO

Acknowledgments

The author thanks three anonymous referees for their insightful comments. Of course, none are responsible for the content presented here. An earlier version of this article was presented at the Academy of International Business, Southeast Asia Regional Conference, in Cebu, the Philippines, 5 December 2019.

Notes

¹ Under the WTO’s Accession Protocol, China agreed to forgo the “special and differential treatment” in some areas, including being subjected to more demanding standards after 15 years. For a good overview of how one US administration turned a blind eye to Beijing’s mercantilist trade practices and violation of WTO rules, see Blustein (2019).

² For a good overview of the nature of the US-Japan economic tensions, see Ishihara (1991) and Thurow (1989).

³ Larry Getlen (2018) notes that the American middle class is being “wiped out” by the sharp increases in the cost of housing, education and healthcare.

⁴ These two high-tech companies are also the world’s biggest telecommunications equipment providers.

⁵ For latest figures see Morrison (2018).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Shalendra D. Sharma

Shalendra D. Sharma is Lee Shau Kee Foundation Chair Professor of Political Science, Lingnan University, Hong Kong.