The contemporary international landscape, characterized by a shifting global power distribution and internal strife within Western democracies, has ignited a vigorous debate within the U.S. strategic community concerning the Liberal International Order (LIO). Realist scholars contend that LIO is an artifact of American hegemony, and its current predicament is due to the evolving global power balance. This perspective advocates for a foreign policy explicitly grounded in power maximization, necessitating adjustments to the international system and geopolitical structures to accommodate emerging power dynamics. This may result in a return to the Cold War-era realist strategies, such as the expansion of alliances to contain adversaries. Conversely, Liberal internationalists argue that LIO is founded upon liberal values and a network of international institutions. They identify two primary threats to this order: the rise of revisionist powers on the world stage and the ascendance of populist forces within Western democracies. To address these challenges, liberals advocate for the reinvigoration of democratic norms within the liberal states and the fortification of alliances among democracies to counter external threats. Despite these contrasting perspectives, both realist and liberal factions within the U.S. strategic community converge on a policy orientation that prioritizes the maintenance of U.S. primacy. This includes a renewed emphasis on great power competition, the re-emergence of bloc politics, and the strengthening of the domestic economy. The prevailing discourse within the U.S. strategic community reflects a diminishing commitment to the liberal internationalist project. A potential return to a more nationalist and transactional foreign policy, exemplified by the second Trump presidency, would likely accelerate this trend, further eroding the open and cooperative nature of the global order and exacerbating the struggle between unipolarity and multipolarity. This could intensify the urgency and likelihood of international cooperation to forge a new global order.

The U.S. strategic community;liberal international order;realist;liberalist;strategic competition