What Lies Ahead for the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development?

The “rise of the rest” has prompted questions about the capacity and willingness of the United States to lead the liberal international order established under its post-war hegemony. Some prophesize that stronger connections amongst emerging powers are the basis for a parallel international order parading different rules, norms and institutions. ¹ In contrast, Ikenberry argues that the visionary use of US power has woven capitalist and democratic societies together into a uniquely entrenched “Western” order that is “hard to overturn and easy to join.” ² Prevailing arrangements will condition the environment within which rising powers make their decisions; nevertheless, by joining the Western order they may alter its character. Which of these visions pans out is vitally important to the outlook of a quintessentially Western institution, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).