Out of Order Podcast

Live From GMF's Young Professionals Summit: What is the Liberal International Order Anyway?

March 14, 2018
2 min read
Photo credit: Gina Power/Shutterstock

Over the last years, policy makers on both sides of the Atlantic have become increasingly concerned that the Liberal International Order is in danger. At first, threats to this Western-led order seemed to emanate mostly from the outside, as rising powers such as China and Russia challenged the existing order. But with the Brexit referendum and the election of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency, it has become clear that there are plenty of actors within our societies who are equally opposed to existing global order. But what exactly are the opposed to - and what do proponents of the LIO want to defend? It is not clear if either the critics or the supporters agree about what the most essential components of the order are. Is it about the West? It it about free trade and neoliberal economics? Is it about democracy and human rights? What makes the order "liberal" anyway? Do we need to scale back the LIO in order to save it? What would a world without it look like? In this episode, recorded live at the Young Professionals Summit at GMF's Brussels Forum, hosts Rachel Tausendfreund and Peter Sparding are joined by GMF transatlantic fellow Janka Oertel and Josh Rogin, Global Opinions Columnist with the Washington Post, to discuss these questions and work towards understanding what the Liberal International Order is anyways.