It has been ten years since IAI first hosted a debate on the end of the West. At the time some argued this was an implausible proposal. Since then the IAI has returned to the question a number of times and on each occasion it has seemed more likely and increasingly inevitable. But few imagined that the leader of the Western world would themselves call its demise. For that is what many now argue President Trump has done. The shift to a transactional politics rather than working together within a system of shared values, has placed former allies on opposing sides. And with it the coherence of the West appears to have broken apart.
But where is this leading? Will Trump's strategies make the US stronger or cement its decline? As Europe rearms will it find a new voice to stand alongside, or perhaps against, the US and China? And most importantly, how can we navigate the new world order and avoid a catastrophic confrontation while defending ourselves, our values, and way of life?