In the eyes of the Chinese Communist Party, Vladimir Putin or other cynics, a system in which might is right would be nothing new. They see the liberal order not as an enactment of lofty ideals but an exercise of raw American power—power that is now in relative decline.

You cannot simultaneously claim that your order was based on mutual trust and also that the biggest "partners" you were supposed to be collaborating with see your order as an imposition fueled by raw force.

It is true that the system established after the second world war achieved a marriage between America’s internationalist principles and its strategic interests.

The internationalist principles of ceaseless war and genocide?

Buttressed by strong growth in America, it may seem as if the world economy can survive everything that is thrown at it.

Nobody believes this