Project Syndicate: The Demand Side of Our New Political Reality

Daniel Sachs calls attention to the root causes of declining trust in institutions and the rules-based order in a new piece in project Syndicate.

Proliferating wars and shaky alliances are hallmarks of today’s brutal new political reality, one that would have been unimaginable a decade ago. But the geopolitical rupture currently underway is no accident of history, nor is it simply the result of strongmen, weak institutions, or a sudden loss of restraint.

It mirrors something more fundamental: the social soil of our societies. Politics does not occur in a vacuum. It grows out of lived experience, reflecting whether people feel secure, respected, and optimistic about a shared future. For years, political volatility has been treated as a series of external shocks. But today’s reality is the culmination of choices made over many decades.

Like all political shifts, this one has a supply side and a demand side. Yet most commentaries on the new world disorder focus disproportionately on the supply side: authoritarian leaders and new doctrines, blocs, or geopolitical arrangements that might replace liberal democracy and the rules- based international order. While important, this perspective ignores the demand that is driving current political trends. Why are so many people willing to support authoritarian ideas and leaders?

Continue reading the article on Project syndicate.