The International Liberal Order and the Contest for Democracy
Ted Piccone, Senior Fellow, Project on Int’l Order and Strategy, The Brookings Institution
The International Liberal System—consisting of a cooperative network of states, multilateral institutions, NGOs, and established norms—has been facing waves of uncertainty. Populist leaders, disillusioned voters, and economic crises have threatened to extend “the End of History.” Despite this, Mr. Piccone finds encouragement in five rising democracies—India, Brazil, South Africa, Turkey, and Indonesia. Having benefited from South-South, North-South, and international institutional development assistance, these states have moved (mostly) in a positive direction toward economic, humanitarian, and political improvement. Further cooperation between established and rising democracies would be facilitated by an improvement in practices in states such as the United States, France, England, etc.
