Predictions that the coronavirus pandemic would kill globalization began to emerge within weeks of the economic shutdowns it unleashed. Now, Russia’s war in Ukraine has crystallized a consensus that globalization is experiencing its death throes. Rumors of globalization’s death, however, are likely premature.
In Western liberal democracies, anti-China rhetoric seeks to embolden patriotism among Western citizens and provide a clear framework around which to rally the public. In practice, however, this pattern of behavior reveals more about the West than it does about Beijing. It also works to undermine key premises of liberal democracy.
Many Americans were reminded last week that the United States remains actively engaged in military combat. But this conflict is not in Afghanistan, where the U.S. withdrew its forces last August. Nor is it in Ukraine, where President Joe Biden has gone out of his way to avoid direct military involvement. It’s in Syria.