Did the Globalists Really Dig Their Own Grave? By James Reed

Tim Black's article: https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/03/08/how-the-globalists-dug-their-own-grave/

contends that the liberal international order—a globalist framework led by Western elites—is collapsing under its own contradictions, with populist revolts signalling its demise.

Black opens by framing 2016 as a turning point: the U.S. election of Donald Trump and Britain's Brexit vote were not just rejections of local elites but a broader repudiation of globalism—a system benefiting corporate and state powers while sidelining democratic voice. He cites subsequent European populist surges (e.g., Italy, Hungary) as evidence that this U.S.-led order has "dug its own grave."

He identifies key failures: globalism's militarism, notably NATO's "thoughtless expansionism," antagonised Russia, giving it a pretext for Ukraine's invasion—a war exposing the order's fragility. More critically, Black argues that subsuming nations into a "rules-based order"—via entities like the EU—sparked resistance, as people demanded sovereignty over supranational control. He nods to history: the Concert of Europe fell not just from Germany's rise but from similar overreach.

Trump, Black asserts, didn't cause this crumble but rode its waves, tapping discontent with a war-weary, elitist globalism. Yet he critiques Trump's indifference to Ukraine's sovereignty as a flaw—contrasting it with the populist thirst for national control he represents. Black concludes that the liberal order is "gone," its contradictions (hypocrisy, anti-democracy) fatal. The question is what replaces it—globalism's tombstone is set, per his view.

Black's obituary for globalism is premature—globalists haven't buried themselves; they're adapting, and globalism's threat to national sovereignty is as potent as ever.

First, globalism's institutions endure with muscle. The EU, WTO, and IMF still wield economic and legal clout—treaties bind nations, overriding local parliaments. The EU's 2024 sanctions on Hungary for resisting migration quotas show it can punish dissent. In South Australia, trade reliance on global bodies like the WTO (e.g., wine exports) ties state policy to supranational rules—Black's "populist revolts" haven't dismantled this. Brexit's a hiccup, not a death knell; Britain's still entangled in global trade webs.

Second, globalism's adapting, not dying. Black's NATO critique misses its pivot—post-Ukraine, it's expanding (Sweden, Finland joined 2023-24), flexing military unity against Russia. Tech giants ditch renewables for nuclear but stay globalist—Google's AI-robotics (Breitbart, 14 March 2025) transcend borders, tying nations to corporate grids: globalism evolves, absorbing populist pushback into new forms—AI and nuclear as tools of control, not collapse.

Third, sovereignty's erosion persists. Black celebrates Trump, but his "America First" bent didn't kill globalism—U.S. multinationals (Amazon, Meta) still dictate global markets. In Australia, the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 bows to global investors—Adelaide's land and firms snapped up by offshore players show sovereignty's hollowed out, not reclaimed, for example. Globalism's economic tentacles don't need consent; they thrive on capital's logic.

Fourth, the cultural war proves globalism's resilience. Woke attacks on Western icons (American Thinker, 15 March 2025) aren't a retreat but a rebrand—globalist elites wield identity politics to erode national pride, a soft power linked to social cohesion's decay. The Trust's "decolonising" isn't surrender; it's a globalist flex, rewriting history to suit a borderless ethos.

Finally, populism's no grave-digger. Black's revolts—Trump, Brexit—lack coherence to dismantle globalism. Globalists aren't entombed—they're shapeshifting. Sovereignty's under siege as ever, from AI's borderless reach to supranational edicts.

The election of Trump was merely the beginning. Australia is as deep in the globalist nightmare as ever and we must battle on!

https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/03/08/how-the-globalists-dug-their-own-grave/