The post-WWII liberal international order was built on specific lessons from the 1920s-1930s: protectionist trade policies, immigration quotas, and tariffs contributed to the Great Depression and World War II, so the new order was designed to promote international cooperation, free trade, and multilateral institutions as superior to nationalist beggar-thy-neighbor policies.

The 2008 financial crisis shattered American confidence in the competence of economic management and market mechanisms, breaking the faith that the US had solved business cycle volatility and could prevent deep recessions, thereby undermining belief in the liberal order's foundational claims.

China has grown from a minor player in global markets at the end of the 20th century to become the largest economy in the world (on PPP terms) and one of the largest exporters, running enormous trade surpluses with the US, fundamentally shifting global economic power.

Western democracies are failing to adapt their educational systems to the reality of modern labor markets: people now require multiple careers throughout their lives rather than single lifetime careers, but educational institutions still train for specific lifelong vocations, leaving workers unprepared for economic disruption.