Brown Watson Institute

America's Abdication - Fareed Zakaria

Fareed Zakaria argues that the United States, after spearheading a post‑World War II liberal order, is now stepping back from the very principles it once championed. He traces the evolution from Roosevelt’s and Truman’s commitment to free trade and collective security to today’s reality, where the U.S. has become the most protectionist industrialized nation. The core of Zakaria’s analysis is the stark reversal in policy: tariffs that were once the lowest among peers have risen to the highest, and the U.S. routinely flouts the rules of the system it helped construct. This voluntary abdication is not a formal retreat but a gradual disengagement from the institutional framework that underpinned global stability for decades. He underscores his point with vivid language, noting that "the United States is once again the leading protectionist country in the world" and that it "openly violates" the very order it designed. These observations are bolstered by data on tariff levels and the erosion of multilateral trade commitments. The implications are profound. A protectionist America threatens the cohesion of the liberal trade regime, raises costs for multinational firms, and may embolden rival powers to reshape norms to their advantage. Policymakers and business leaders must reassess strategies in a world where the erstwhile guarantor of open markets is retreating.