Trump and the crisis of liberalism

Although Donald Trump's election to a non-consecutive second term to the US presidency is not unprecedented—Grover Cleveland had done it in 1893—it is nevertheless a watershed moment.

- BAIJAYANT 'JAY' PANDA

Considering the extreme odds he overcame, he has been called the most resilient politician in the history of the US. His second term is likely to have significant ramifications around the globe.

Trump represents a growing American instinct to pivot back to its largely isolationist stance before the modern era began, a bit over a century ago. The intervening decades saw the US become the richest and most powerful nation in the world, and no longer gun-shy about intervening in geopolitical situations around the world. It had become the world’s policeman, and heralded the liberal world order that commentator Francis Fukuyama deemed the ultimate and irrevocable winner in his book—The End of History and the Last Man.

History disagreed with that pronouncement and has pushed back strenuously. The modern era of globalization has clearly seen better days, as those Americans who suffered under it have propelled the US away from its basic tenets. Understanding this phenomenon requires understanding the evolution of liberalism.