The Post-World War II Order Is Under Assault From the Powers That Built It
In the aftermath of World War II, the victorious Western countries forged institutions — NATO, the European Union, and the World Trade Organization —
that aimed to keep the peace through collective military might and shared prosperity.
“Many people in Europe and the United States have not benefited very much from overall economic growth over the past few decades,
and they are naturally skeptical of the policies and leaders in place,” said Douglas W. Elmendorf, dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
In Poland, Hungary, Britain and Italy, distrust of the European Union reflects public anger
at its liberal immigration policies, and an influx of people from Muslim countries.
“From a European perspective, the shock comes from the fact
that the U. S. is now seen as a destabilizing force, like Russia, and ironically making China look more moderate.”
The institutions created after World War II have never lacked for critics — or instances of failing to live up to lofty rhetoric.
“The U. S. was always seen as a stabilizing force within the post-World War II order,” said Ms. Crespy of the Free University Brussels.
In the United States and Britain, working people have suffered joblessness and declining living standards while political leaders have prescribed policies
that have enriched the elite — more trade deals, fewer strictures on bankers.
Expanding NATO and the European Union by bringing in Eastern European nations was supposed to
have prompted the newcomers to adopt the liberal democratic values of their fellow members.
