When considering the impact of Putin’s aggression on globalization and alliances, there is the ought issue of what should happen, and the will be issue of what is likely to happen. Unfortunately, they are likely not aligned.
As Rob Atkinson writes in the latest issue of The International Economy Magazine, the ought is a world in which democratic, rule-of-law nations, especially those in the European Union, finally accept the reality that the world is not moving to an “end of history,” “no two countries with McDonald’s restaurants will go to war” world, and that countries have to pick sides. This would mean no more countries wanting their cake and eating it too: relying on the United States to defend their national security interests but opposing U.S. efforts to fight against China’s rampant innovation mercantilism and, in the case of the European Union, enacting policies that discriminate against U.S. technology companies.
Read the commentary.
