NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump, with his reciprocal tariff regime and unconventional economic policies, is fundamentally resetting the global economic order. This marks a pivotal moment in history—one that challenges the entrenched globalist consensus of the past three decades.
After the Cold War, the US acted as the world’s unchallenged hegemon—spending lavishly on military dominance, global influence, and domestic programs without worrying about the bill. The US-led globalization kicked into overdrive, especially after China joined the WTO in 2001, flooding American markets with cheap manufactured imports. Meanwhile, US factories relocated overseas, and the economy shifted toward services (tech, finance) at the expense of domestic manufacturing. For years, neoliberals and neoconservatives championed globalization as the ultimate solution to the world’s problems.
While it enriched globalist elites and expanded the wealth of the already affluent, its benefits for ordinary citizens were uneven at best. In the US, manufacturing jobs shrank from 30% in the 1950s to under 10% today. Real wages for the average worker have stagnated since the 1970s, while inequality has skyrocketed—the top 1% now owns more than the bottom 90%. Deindustrialization left behind rust belts, and reliance on imports made the US vulnerable to supply chain disruptions, as seen during COVID.
Globally, the middle class saw modest improvements in living standards—often financed by crushing debt—while the poor remained trapped in cycles of deprivation, surviving on government subsidies. According to Oxfam, the wealth gap has widened dramatically: the richest 1% now holds nearly half of global wealth, while the bottom 50% struggles with just 2%.
The indoctrination of progress has been so pervasive that society now normalizes lifelong debt as the only path to homeownership—or worse, reliance on corruption and black money. The middle class, distracted by consumerist illusions, measures prosperity in cars, gadgets, and disposable luxuries—most bought on credit. Meanwhile, healthy food, clean water, raising children, and safe neighborhoods have become unaffordable privileges for many. The psychological toll is immense: social media addiction, fueled by dopamine hits from Instagram reels and Facebook likes, serves as both an escape and an opiate for an overworked, disillusioned populace.
Behind globalization’s glossy façade lies a grim reality: stagnant wages, rising household debt, and a mental health crisis. The World Health Organization reports that anxiety and depression have surged by 25% globally in the last decade, exacerbated by financial stress and societal pressures. The promise of prosperity has devolved into a relentless race for a hollow, unsustainable lifestyle.
Globalization’s geopolitical toll has been equally devastating. While China’s economy grew exponentially, emerging as a major threat to US supremacy, underdeveloped and developing nations (like India) remain ensnared in perpetual conflict—often fueled by arms sales from the Western military-industrial complex. In an unanticipated consequence, the US also spent over $8 trillion on post-9/11 wars, draining its treasury while neglecting its crumbling infrastructure and leaving its working class behind.
The national debt, now exceeding $34 trillion, threatens long-term economic stability—not just for the US but the entire world. Foreign nations hold around $8 trillion in US debt (with Japan and China holding the largest dollar reserves), and central banks stockpile dollars, which make up 60% of global reserves. The dollar’s dominance stems from history (Bretton Woods), trust (its universal acceptance), and necessity (oil is priced in dollars).
But this makes US debt a ticking time bomb—not just for future generations of Americans but for other nations as well. If this vicious cycle of debt accumulation continues, inequalities will only widen, triggering social and political discontent, anarchy, and violence. Beyond debt, the adverse consequences of globalization—including wokeness, plummeting birth rates, the breakdown of social structures, and rising crime—are wreaking havoc worldwide.
Trump’s economic nationalism—”Make America Great Again”—marked by tariffs, reshoring incentives, and trade wars, disrupts this broken model. From Thomas Friedman’s ‘The World is Flat’ and Martin Wolf’s ‘Why Globalization Works’ to Peter Navarro’s *Death by China’, the US has come full circle—from championing globalization to embracing Trump’s protectionism, echoing Nixon’s vision of self-reliance.
This disruption, however, presents an opportunity for the rest of the world too. Trump’s policies may force nations to rethink self-sufficiency, revive domestic industries, and prioritize their citizens over global supply chains. For countries like India, this is a historic moment: by investing in manufacturing, upskilling labor, and reducing import dependency, it can emerge stronger in the new economic paradigm. With a $3.5 trillion economy and $650 billion in reserves, India has room to maneuver—pivoting away from US dependence, imposing retaliatory tariffs, boosting domestic production, depreciating the rupee to enhance export competitiveness, and renegotiating deals with Trump. The industrialization bus that India missed during globalization’s so-called golden era can still be boarded.
Short-term disruptions will fade, but nations that seize this moment will shape the next era of prosperity. The question is: Who will act decisively—and who will cling to a failing status quo?
