ABSTRACT
Today, both the US and the UK are facing a strong challenge to business as usual. In the latter, the Brexit side won the referendum and Theresa May has pulled the trigger to leave the EU. In the US, Donald Trump has ushered in a political revolution that might be called “Brexit on steroids” because he is uprooting the post-World War II international order that the US itself created. What explains this turn against globalization and free trade? The answer lies in a reversion to nationalism, harnessed by a rather emotive populism. As the Anglo-Saxon economies grew, living standards failed to keep pace. Out went jobs to emerging economies like Mexico and China, and in came immigrants. In 15 years, the UK’s population shot up by 10 percent, pulling down wages, pushing up property prices, and adding pressures on services such as education and health. Voters wanted to “take back control” and plumped for Brexit. In the US, Trump ran a masterful campaign playing on the fears of the electorate, promising to “Make America Great Again.” A generation ago, globalization promised increased living standards and greater justice for the common citizen. Instead, inequalities in income, wealth, and education soared. Thus, people have turned back to older identities and imagined communities, blaming globalization and elites for their dire state.
