Why the World Order Is Collapsing and American Power Is Rising
Historian Walter Russell Mead joins Invest Like The Best to argue that the post-1945 world order is crumbling while American power keeps rising, and to cover China, Trump, AI, drone warfare and the Middle East.
The gist
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Mead says the old system of trade rules and alliances is collapsing, but the US remains dynamic thanks to tech-driven productivity.
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Mead says Dutch, British and American power rests on open societies and global trade, which also lets them cut off rivals in wartime.
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Mead says remote work and self-driving cars could stretch commutes from 40 to 75 miles, sharply expanding land available for affordable housing.
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He sorts American foreign policy into Hamiltonian, Wilsonian, Jeffersonian and Jacksonian camps, and calls Trump's coalition Jeffersonian isolationists plus Jacksonian hawks.
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From Ukraine, Mead describes drone-dominated fighting where one wounded soldier took 63 days to evacuate, yet he is optimistic about AI-driven medical advances.
What they recommend · 1 pick
Wall Street Journal
Media & entertainment
"The Wall Street Journal, Paul Gigot letting me be the global view columnist at the journal. I float on a sea of kindness."
Also mentioned
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God and Gold
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Special Providence
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Council on Foreign Relations
· "I think of Les Gelb at the Council on Foreign Relations — he was just a magnificent mentor who, when I..."
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