A World in Transition

By Sophie des Beauvais

On Friday, April 17, 2015, the American-Scandinavian Foundation hosted former Prime Minister of Denmark and Secretary General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen for a discussion about the current world order and the need for American leadership.

Rasmussen, who has been at the center of European and world politics for the last three decades, started his political career in 1978, when he became the youngest Danish Member of Parliament at 25 years old. He then served as Prime Minister of Denmark between 2001 and 2009, and later as the 12th Secretary General of NATO from 2009 to 2014.

In his prepared statements for the event, Rasmussen argued the world needs more leadership from liberal democracies, and particularly the United States. He spoke about reading Fukuyama’s The End of History and the Last Man over 20 years ago, and how he was then deeply convinced by Fukuyama’s argument—the advent of western liberal democracies are the ultimate and final form of human government.

However, Rasmussen noted that in the face of major geopolitical struggles, the world is witnessing a decline in democracy. For instance, the passing season for revolution known as the Arab Spring has now “turned into winter.” And Russia’s recently denounced liberal democracies, which complements its recent violations of its neighbors territorial integrity. Indeed, a 2015 report from Freedom House points out a disturbing global decline in freedom of expression, civil society, and rule of law standards for the tenth consecutive year.

For Rasmussen, these geopolitical trends indicates the “return of history,” in opposition to Fukuyama’s theory. A new era of violence is being met by a trembling world order—as if the world had opened the Pandora’s box of religious, ethnic, and political strife. The consequences of these conflicts are characterized by the current state of global instability and the evident failure of the West to impose democracy in the Arab world.

Rasmussen explained stability should not take precedence over freedom, and the West should not show more humility or restraint in global affairs. In his view, if liberal democracies withdraw from the global stage, it would send a negative message of lacking support for those who stand for freedom across the globe. Autocrats and terrorists would then rule the world, a prospect to which Rasmussen quoted philosopher Edmund Burke in saying, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

He also referred to positive examples of American leadership in the bipolar geopolitical landscape of the 20th century, when the “Pax Americana” triumphed, leading to “an era of peace and prosperity.” Such tranquility, said Rasmussen, demonstrates the benefits of American leadership in a unipolar world. While Rasmussen argues the U.S. will remain the world's strongest country in the decades to come, America remains in acute need of allies willing to create a strong global alliance of liberal democracies. Such a potential arrangement of partnerships would be based on even stronger relations than traditional transatlantic bonds of today. As such, Europe should be a strong and reliable partner for the U.S., although comprehensive reforms are needed for this outcome to manifest.

Though the U.S. should remain committed to the continent’s security, Europe must increase its defense budgets to decrease its dependence on American defense spending. Economically, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a trade agreement between the European Union and the U.S. that aims to expand transatlantic trade and investment by updating trade barriers and regulations, should be agreed upon soon. In the long-term, the much broader Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA) needs to be negotiated to create more economic growth and jobs.

Moreover, Rasmussen, who participated in a 5-week American-sponsored leadership education program for young members of European parliaments at the age of 29, expressed emphatic support of further transatlantic education and science programs. He explained his own experience was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that gave him a deeper and useful understanding of the American society. Transatlantic teacher and student exchanges should also be better promoted, as well as extended to countries like Australia, Brazil, India, Israel, Japan, Mexico, or New Zealand. Indeed, strengthened transatlantic relations like these can provide a forum where democracies, confronted by rising autocracies, can revitalize their voices.

Liberal democracies are based on the substantial belief that liberty is a human and fundamental right. According to Rasmussen, the West needs to demonstrate more confidence in the values its societies are built upon—free market economics, social mobility, and open trade, in order to promote peace, prosperity, and progress. While he has no illusions about the fact that the forces of oppression will always challenge these freedoms, the ultimate efficacy of these values is exactly why Rasmussen is convinced freedom will triumph eventually. Yet for this to happen, the world needs greater American leadership to strengthen and unify the voice of liberal democracies.

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Sophie des Beauvais is editorial assitant at World Policy Journal.