Great powers often create international economic systems that facilitate alignments with other states. In the twentieth century, the United States led a process that create such an economic order centered on free-market systems and free trade. As Daniel Yergin recounts, this was the product of theoretical and policy debates in the West, U.S.-led statecraft in the post-World War II period, and market-oriented reform movements led by President Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. This evolution challenged beliefs in statist economic paradigms and culminated in a consensus around a set of neoliberal economic policies. This new consensus then shaped institutions and policies, to varying degrees, around the world. It transformed the economies of the states of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, major Asian powers such as India and China, as well as Latin America and Southeast Asia. This book tells the story of this realignment of policy thinking and practice, as well as reflecting on whether the market-based consensus will endure.
Guiding Questions
- Does this argument about the lack of ideological loyalty to capitalism hold true in the present? How would Yergin and Stanislaw respond to the recent shift towards protectionism and anti-globalism?
- How does this text interact with other post-Cold War texts, such as Fukuyama's "The End of History and the Last Man?" Are they complementary, or is there disagreement?