Can the Liberal Order Survive America's Retreat?

Abstract: This essay examines what the United States' retreat from international institutions means for the liberal global order. Under both Trump administrations, the authors argue, Washington has embraced a sovereigntist approach—withdrawing from UN bodies and climate and human-rights instruments, and dismantling USAID in 2025—that is hollowing out the multilateral architecture liberal democracy depends on. The likely result is not outright collapse but a fragmented world of overlapping regional orders with weakened universal institutions at the center, a shift that grows harder to reverse the longer it persists. Crucially, the authors insist the case for reengagement does not rest on idealism: International organizations have been among the most effective instruments of U.S. power, and disengagement simply hands their agendas to autocratic rivals. The window for reengagement remains open, they conclude; the question is whether Washington will move before it closes.