Putin, and his ideological allies in Europe, operating under the pseudonym as "populist" movements, represent a throwback. Theirs is a desire not just to oppose globalism, but to attack and undermine the underpinnings of globalism. Their biggest benefactor and underworld patron is Vladimir Putin.
The attack on globalism is obscuring a more fundamental attack on this world view. It is the world view and world order launched after World War II by President Harry S. Truman and ensconced in the United Nations and NATO. That these two institutions are now under direct attack is no accident.
The formation of the UN and NATO was a reaction to two massively destructive world wars. It was conceived and crafted, led by the United States, weary of being drawn into two European wars. It allowed the U.S. a say in European relations before having to send its young men and women to die first.
However, it was much more than that. It sought to spread the notions of the Enlightenment, human rights, universal recognition of suffrage, and international comity, to the rest of the world. It provided in New York a venue to have representatives meet and address not just issues of war and peace, but of international disputes, and a world court. It brought all of the nations of the world to the same table, and gave each a say in the course of world events.
The globalist/universalist attack seeks to undo all of that. The anti-globalists/universalists seek to return to the era before the World Wars, when the most powerful nations were ruled largely by autocrats and worked among one another to divide up the economic spoils of the rest, the lesser, less powerful nations. It is a movement away from ideological divisions of the world, for example, along the lines of the Cold War ideologies, and a movement towards the reign of powerful, autocratic states having near-free reign to do as they please.
This also means the undoing of human rights, universal recognition of suffrage, and international comity, Concomitantly, it also means the lurch back to power by the racial stereotypes populating those of the original big powers. Think the World War I powers of Russia, Great Britain, France, Austria, and Turkey. It is an attempt to reverse the immigration of others over the last half-century and return power to the populations then in large majorities.
The creation of that now-80 year world order was no coincidence. It was a world order conceived and created in response to two massively destructive world wars. And it held the peace through the nuclear age. Now, however, it is under attack in Europe and, more recently, the U.S. It is clear that undoing that world order opens up the Pandora's box that it had kept tightly lidded. It runs the risk of creating chaos and wars of economic gain unchecked by the UN and the World Court.
It is a throwback to a much more divisive and dangerous time for the people of the world. The reign of autocrats has returned. The adage, "if you set out to kill the king, you better kill the king" has newfound meaning. And don't call it a comeback.
