Last year's political upheavals in the Anglo-American world continue to reverberate.

Whether they support or oppose the U.S.-led international economic, financial and military order, or whether they think of themselves as politically moderate or neutral, people around the world continue to ask a common question: What happened, and why?

The upending of establishment politics has especially shocked political and business leaders in the global elite. Whether in the cold, crisp air of the World Economic Forum in Davos or in the conference rooms of international think tanks, the world's strongest supporters of the pre-Trump, pre-Brexit status quo gather to assess the damage to their power and credibility, and ponder whether what they see as an international wave of populist revolt could wash up on the shores of whatever country their own passport has been issued.