Walter Russell Mead argues the postwar order is crumbling while American power itself is not in crisis, crediting the information revolution and rising productivity for continued dynamism.
Mead says Trump has turned fame and drama into power, leaving him free of reputational constraints and accelerating the breakdown of postwar and post-Cold War structures.
Mead warns that American security and prosperity depend on global engagement, and that the tech sector's ties to Washington are renationalizing the economy as tech firms care more about supply chains and intellectual property than open trade.
America's power endures even as its world order collapses
Walter Russell Mead argues that the postwar order is collapsing while American power is not. The US belongs to a line of maritime commercial powers that win by staying open, trading widely and absorbing new technology. Trump is speeding the breakdown, and a divided home front leaves the country poorly equipped to supply global stability.
Takeaways
American power endures inside a collapsing world order. Mead says the order built after 1945 and refurbished after the Cold War is crumbling, with alliances and institutions failing. American power is not in crisis, since the information revolution and rising productivity keep the country dynamic.
Trump turns fame and drama into power. Mead says this frees Trump from reputational limits, much as Clinton survived scandal by pressing on. Tariffs now follow his decisions, not WTO rules. The internet has also revived personal rule, seen in Modi, Abe, Netanyahu, Erdogan, Putin and Xi.
Maritime commercial powers keep beating continental ones. Mead reads the last three centuries as a sequence of United Provinces, UK and US. This English-speaking maritime order beat Louis XIV's France, Napoleon, Imperial Germany and the Soviet Union, and the US depends on global engagement, with about a third of trade going to each of three regions.
Economic interdependence is leverage, and China knows it. Chinese officials understand the dependence trap, so Beijing invests in solar, hydro and coal to withstand a blockade. Mead says a Taiwan blockade would hurt China as much as the US. He expects a soft blockade test through customs stops.
Whoever absorbs new technology without social collapse gains power. Mead says this decides which countries rise. Tech firms now care about supply chains, intellectual property and patriotic staff, which has renationalized the economy. At home he proposes an ownership society, Homestead-style remote work to ease housing, and regulation and infrastructure for AI.
Trump's coalition splits isolationists from hawks. Mead describes four traditions, Hamiltonian, Wilsonian, Jeffersonian and Jacksonian. Trump's coalition mixes Jeffersonian isolationists like Vance with Jacksonian hawks like Rubio. On Ukraine, the first want out and the second want Putin punished.
Eroding deterrence threatens the Middle East and beyond. Mead says Arab nationalism has collapsed, Israel is too small to counter Iran, and the US has refused to enforce a red line since Obama. Drones could hit Gulf desalination plants, Iran could dominate oil, and AI and bioweapons defy arms control verification.
The maritime playbook Mead traces to the Dutch
Tap a name to go there · tap a line to see why they are linked
On this episode 2
Show 1
Build an open society that welcomes ideas from outside.
Use global trade to make the nation rich.
Invite other countries into the system instead of monopolizing it.
Use economic interdependence as leverage, as Britain did against Germany in World War I by cutting off Malayan rubber and Argentine grain.