The Great Disruption

Old certainties are giving way, new ideas are being born, as the world lurches toward an era of great volatility. The India Today Conclave evaluated the unstoppable forces at work that are radically changing the landscape of the known world around us. A timely reminder in a Post-Truth age.

- Aroon Purie

THE PAST YEAR HAS BEEN as traumatic as it was dramatic. Nothing is as it used to be. It is no surprise that Post-Truth was the Oxford English Dictionary word of the year. Suddenly everything that is a lie is the truth, and everything that is true is a lie. The world is now being divided and defined differently. Left or Right is no longer the only binary. The divides are wide and widening: Open societies vs Closed ones, Rich vs Poor, Elites vs Masses, Nationalism vs Anti-nationalism, Freedom vs Censorship, Free Trade vs Protectionism. Considering all that has happened in the past year, our theme for Conclave 2017—The Great Disruption—is right on the button. What are these great disruptions that are transforming India and the world? I believe, fundamentally, there are five such forces at work. And in many ways, they are interconnected.

ANTI-GLOBALISATION

What are these great disruptions that are transforming India and the world? I believe, fundamentally, there are five such forces at work. And in many ways, they are interconnected. The first great disruption is the backlash to globalisation. There is little doubt that globalisation has benefited the world economy and pulled millions out of poverty, but one of its unintended consequences has been that it helped the elites more than the masses. In the age of multilateral trade treaties, many Americans came to view free trade as a job killer and an impediment to wage growth—concerns that were, in fact, rooted in reality. In America, between 1999 and 2011, cheap Chinese imports eliminated about half a million US manufacturing jobs, and perhaps as many as 2.2 million jobs in total.