In 2024, the biggest election year in history, people in dozens of countries, representing half of the world’s population, will go to the polls. Many commentators and experts view this global synchronicity as a kind of plebiscite on the postwar global order. Seen from this perspective, the likely rejection of the postwar world order this year should not come as a surprise: elements of the narrative have become increasingly prominent in recent decades. The tragedy is that the dominant populist narrative about the architects of the liberal postwar order, that they are mad scientists who have lost control of their creations, contains a kernel of truth. As in Frankenstein, a little recognition of the finer feelings that the monster – in this case, the postwar economy – is capable of would have gone a long way toward changing its behavior.

Source: Stuff February 03, 2024 02:19 UTC