Recording of a debate at the Battle of Ideas Festival 2018.

Since the fall of communism, the dominant narrative around international politics and economics has been that of a stable order defined by liberal, free-market values and agreements. In recent years, faith in the liberal international vision seems to have been shattered. In response to the rise of China and resurgence of Russia, populists across the world, most famously President Trump, have denounced free-trade agreements and collective security arrangements. Are we really moving into a more protectionist world, or will free-trade ideology make a comeback? How will the rise of China and the ‘global south’, alongside the apparent slow decline of the US, change things?

CAMERON ABADI

deputy editor, Foreign Policy

REMI ADEKOYA

PhD researcher on identity politics, Sheffield University; columnist; member, Editorial Working Group, Review of African Political Economy

PROFESSOR BILL DURODIE

chair of international relations, University of Bath

DR TARA MCCORMACK

lecturer, international politics, University of Leicester

CHAIR: JACOB REYNOLDS

partnerships manager, Academy of Ideas; co-convenor, Living Freedom; organiser, Debating Matters