Nowadays, globalization's opponents seem increasingly to be drowning out its defenders. If they get their way, the post-World War II international order — which aimed, often successfully, to advance peace and prosperity through exchange and connection — could well collapse. Can globalization be saved?
At first glance, the outlook appears grim. Every aspect of globalization — free trade, free movement of capital and international migration — is under attack. Leading the charge are antagonistic forces — from populist political parties to separatist groups to terrorist organizations — whose actions tend to focus more on what they oppose than on what they support.
Despite their differences, the groups all around the world opposing globalization have one thing in common: a deep hostility toward international structures and interconnectedness. They do not care that the international order they want to tear down enabled the rapid post-1945 economic growth that liberated billions of developing-country citizens from poverty. All they see are massive, unbending institutions and intolerable inequalities in wealth and income, and they blame globalization.