Early hopes that Western democracies’ unified response to Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine would break the populist, anti-globalist fever have not been fulfilled. Instead, since the invasion, opponents of the liberal order have made deeper inroads in France, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, and elsewhere. Meanwhile, the possibility persists that Trump may return to the White House in 2025. In this event, a panel of experts considered the international implications of populism’s continuing success in Western democracies.
Gideon Rachman is chief foreign affairs commentator for the Financial Times. He joined the paper in 2006, after 15 years at The Economist, which included spells as a foreign correspondent in Washington, Brussels and Bangkok. At the FT, he writes a weekly column and hosts a podcast, the Rachman Review. He has published three books, including - "Easternisation - war and peace in the Asian century." He has received several awards for journalism, including the Orwell Prize and the European press prize.
Helen Thompson is Professor of Political Economy in the Department of Politics and International Studies at Cambridge University. Her most recent book Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st Century was published by Oxford University Press in 2022 and was shortlisted for the 2022 Financial Times Business Book of the Year. She has written for, among other outlets, the Financial Times, the New York Times, the Sunday Times, the Guardian, Foreign Affairs, the London Review of Books, New Statesman, UnHerd, Nature, and Prospect. She co-presents the politics podcast These Times.
Leslie Vinjamuri is director of the US and Americas programme at Chatham House and Professor of International Relations at SOAS University of London. She leads the Institute’s research on the U.S. and International Order. Her recent publications include ‘Why Multilateralism Still Matters’ and 'Building Global Prosperity: Proposals for Sustainable Growth'. The latter was the result of a multi-authored Chatham House initiative that looked at G7 proposals for countering China’s influence in the developing world.
Peter Trubowitz (@ptrubowitz) is Professor of International Relations and Director of the Phelan US Centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science and Associate Fellow at Chatham House.
This event was held on 14 June 2024