It's Time to Revise the Liberal Order

The World Congress of the International Political Science Association in Seoul, often dubbed the "Olympics of Politics," could not have been more timely.

- WANG SON-TAEK

With over 3,500 scholars from around 80 countries in attendance, the congress revolved around the theme "Resisting Autocratization in Polarized Societies." This theme captured the world's most pressing concern: the global erosion of democracy. South Korea, regarded as a democratic success story, experienced a severe political crisis from late last year as the former president led an insurrection. Yet the country managed to restore democratic order in a peaceful and sophisticated manner, thanks to a resilient democratic system and a politically conscious civil society. Seoul is one of the best places to discuss the future of democracy and liberal values. The core problem addressed at the conference—political polarization and autocratization—has evolved into a structural threat, manifesting across democracies at unprecedented levels.

The challenges we face now stem from deeper, systemic malfunctions. To properly understand and address these, we must reassess the global system itself: the liberal international order established at the end of the Cold War. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, a new world order emerged under US leadership. The Cold War system, defined by the bipolar confrontation between the American-led capitalist bloc and the Soviet-led socialist bloc, gave way to US-led unipolar leadership under the liberal international order. This new framework promoted free trade, liberal democracy, and multilateral institutions. For a time, it seemed to be working. Russia joined the G7 to create the G8; China entered the World Trade Organization and embraced market reforms. Many assumed that this convergence marked the inevitable triumph of liberalism.