Oecd Proceedings Migration, Free Trade And Regional Integration In North America Book

At the end of the Cold War, two competing visions for the new world order emerged, both in the Hegelian tradition of "thesis" and "antithesis." One view, defined by Francis Fukuyama in the 1992 book "The End of History and the Last Man," proposed that Western liberal democracy was the ascendant victor of history, and that a new liberal democratic globalism would define the remainder of human existence. The other, represented by Samuel Huntington in the 1996 book "The Clash of Civilizations," proposed that a new global conflict would be waged on the battlefield of identity, with competing civilizations vying for cultural dominance.

Hindsight has revealed that both analyses were naïve. Against Huntington's side, the world is increasingly globalized and capitalist. Against Fukuyama, there has never been a period with greater political populism and economic inequality. What is going on? For the authors of "Hope in Troubled Times," both analyses missed the point by failing to dive deeply enough into the root causes of peace and conflict. For Goudzwaard et al., the source of crisis is ideology and idolatry, not identity.

"Hope in Troubled Times" begins with a summary of global crises, commenting on the ways that most proposed solutions tend to fail. The book is focused on three particularly intense loci of conflict: terrorism, the environment, and poverty. The authors identify three ideological sources behind all of these issues: identity politics, material progress, and guaranteed security.

Remarkably, this book was published in 2007. Every major evidence of modern populism and nationalism'the Brexit vote, the Yellow Vest protests, the elections of Erdogan, Trump, López Obrador, Bolsonaro, Orban, and Duterte'was nearly a decade in the future when "Hope in Troubled Times" was written. It seems that these developments took the liberal democratic left virtually by surprise. However, "Hope in Troubled Times" sounds like the authors visited the future. Moving from a highly relevant and timely discussion of nationalism, the authors investigate the ideological sources of these movements, which they classify as a kind of idolatry.

However, the best thing about "Hope in Troubled Times" is not its accurate diagnosis of problems. It is the fact that it actually prescribes solutions, which offer a cause for hope, healing, and life. Taking an impetus from Keynesian economics, the authors propose that the world is defined by self-reinforcing spirals: either downward spirals of crisis, or upward spirals of hope. Informed by a Christian ethic, the authors propose that heterodox impulses from individuals, organizations, and states'conscious choices to "turn the other cheek" on the stage of international disagreement'can dismantle destructive cycles, introducing new, constructive ones.

"Hope in Troubled Times" is a genuinely hopeful book. It presents a practical, timely narrative of redemption that emphasizes justice, peace, and economic foresight. Today's world can be confusing and disheartening. But even amid crisis, there is redemptive hope which leads to action.