Read the full essay here.
This essay examines what the United States’ retreat from international institutions means for the liberal global order. Under both Trump administrations, the authors argue, Washington has embraced a sovereigntist approach—withdrawing from UN bodies and climate and human-rights instruments, and dismantling USAID in 2025—that is hollowing out the multilateral architecture liberal democracy depends on. The likely result is not outright collapse but a fragmented world of overlapping regional orders with weakened universal institutions at the center, a shift that grows harder to reverse the longer it persists. Crucially, the authors insist the case for reengagement does not rest on idealism: International organizations have been among the most effective instruments of U.S. power, and disengagement simply hands their agendas to autocratic rivals. The window for reengagement remains open, they conclude; the question is whether Washington will move before it closes.
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