ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an account of the rise and fall of the liberal world order since its inception in the early twentieth century, notably its achievements and failures after 1989 but also its wider roots in liberalism’s tendency towards a hegemonic sphere of influence and even imperialism. After 1989, liberalism became for some time the dominant ideology, as the “end of history” seemed to herald a global convergence towards Western liberal market democracy as the “final form of human government”. According to G. John Ikenberry, the liberal world order can survive and even thrive precisely because it can accommodate the rising powers. At every point, liberals gave in to the siren calls of hubris. After 9/11, the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria exacerbated the threat from Islamic fundamentalists while shredding the West’s moral standing. 2016 was the year when the ghosts of liberal capitalism came back to haunt the establishment.
