The state of global politics has economists, political scientists and political philosophers floundering.
We are witnessing a level of polarization rarely seen. From Turkey, Brazil and the Philippines to Sri Lanka, India and the United States, the center has not held, because people have either veered left or clustered around figures on the far right.
In authoritarian countries, such as North Korea and China, one usually cannot see authentic public expression of political demands. Yet the politics are still there and they can become apparent during periods of severe strain, as is happening with the widespread backlash in China against the government’s "zero-COVID" policy. Such moments suggest that the opposition is much larger than it may have seemed.