The Western world is consumed by a pivotal transition that could have far-reaching consequences for the prevailing social and political order. The same week that U.S. President Donald Trump eviscerated the Washington elite with his "American carnage" tirade, Europe's far-right parties vowed an end to the European Union.
There is a widespread sense that the West may retreat behind barriers of protectionism to focus on the needs of its own people. In Germany, Der Spiegel has warned of an "epochal shift" and the dire consequences of America's withdrawal from global politics. With the election of Trump, tweeted German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier: "The old world of the 20th century is gone."
