After 1989 and the fall of the Berlin Wall, some theories were developed about how short the 20th century had been. It started after the First World War and ended with the end of the Cold War. The arguments were solid, though apart from the spread of capitalism in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union nothing much changed. Neoliberalism was already applied all over the world and the shock therapies in countries like Russia and Poland only confirmed that social democracy would not have a real chance of being developed. In fact, some of the emerging political parties’ lives were very short indeed.

It certainly was the beginning of a new era. But one might also see it as the beginning of a transition to a real new era which is starting today. President Trump’s election in the United States shows very clearly that some of the values we had been living with since the end of the Second World War are now considered outdated.

After 1989—and even more after the fall of the Soviet Union—a slow and long process started of dismantling welfare states, of promoting private markets, of commodifying every single aspect of our lives, in a very broad sense, that is, including nature. At the same time, as it was neoliberalism, individual rights were confirmed, women’s rights and LGBT rights were developed, and respect for diversity was high on the agenda. Several UN summits in the 1990s confirmed these basic values to be promoted and even if development got a new meaning and was translated into poverty reduction, global solidarity remained on the agenda. The creation of the WTO was another key event to emphasize global unity at the economic and social levels. Multilateralism was an obvious must.

For many, 1989 was the end of a polarized world and of ideological conflicts. Globalization was evidence of the victory of market economies and of individual human rights over socialism.

From discourse to reality

It was a beautiful discourse but very distant from what was happening on the ground. The introduction of neoliberalism in formerly “socialist” countries wreaked havoc and plunged many people into poverty. North-South solidarity never came true and the new poverty targets were not met, except in China. The praised values of democracy, equality, freedom, solidarity, and emancipation were slowly watered down.

With the privatisation of public services and deregulation of economies more and more people were faced with all kinds of vulnerabilities they had not known before. Slowly, far-right political parties emerged to promote conservative values, away from individual liberal rights. Today, it looks as if the transition period is over. Only one single country managed to develop on its own forces, and now presents itself as a rival to the hegemonic power of the United States. China did eradicate extreme poverty, became industrialised, and took its place on the global stage.

As for the Soviet Union, it tried to maintain its global status, but faced with the extension of Western NATO forces, invaded Ukraine, and started a new war in Europe.

Southern countries were further impoverished and lost any hope of occupying a full place on the world stage.

In spite of a changing geopolitical and economic world, power relations remained untouched. Western powers still have most of the votes at the UN and the Bretton Woods institutions.

In the meantime, climate change caused more and more natural disasters, from storms and floods to droughts and fires. Environmental policies were hard to implement and many civil society organisations only focused on even more difficult-to-implement local policies.

With the internet, mobile phones, robotisation, and finally artificial intelligence, new possibilities for communication, disinformation, and manipulation of global audiences emerged. The new capitalism caused rapidly growing inequalities, starkly contradicting the one world that was said to be developing.

Social justice is off the agenda. The social protection discourses that replaced the poverty reduction policies soon watered down to a new version of minimal social policies for the poor. It was said to be “universal” but only meant for “those who need it’”. Insurance now is a market responsibility so states are deprived of any role in social integration.

Women’s and LGBT rights are now said to hinder real equality. Diversity policies become old-fashioned, faced with a sometimes radical “woke” approach that is said to be discriminatory.

Multilateralism now is hindering the hegemonic objectives of the United States. President Trump openly speaks of extending his country’s territory, talking of new states to be added to the United States, and reclaiming the Panama Canal and even Greenland. It is an open call for lawlessness and new wars.

The tech giants, and more particularly Elon Musk, are taking power and supporting the far-right parties in Latin America and Europe. They are a new oligarchy consciously undermining democracy. Their “anarcho-capitalism” is based on the belief that capitalism and democracy are incompatible.

In brief, we are heading towards a new era in which the old values of multilateralism, cooperation, solidarity, and human rights are coming to an end. Resistance is very limited since most struggles are now organised—if at all–at the local level. Trade unions are the only global movement left, and it is hardly in any position to propose real and feasible alternatives. More and more working-class people are gravitating toward far-right parties, drawn by protection promises that are easier to understand than their organizations' complex policies. Progressive and left-wing ideologies are no longer seen as being able to offer solutions.

Protection

It should be once again mentioned that all people, all over the world and at all times, need protection against insecurity and unsafety. The miracle solution of the 20th century, welfare states in their many divergent but efficient forms, are now dismantled. Horizontal structural solidarity is no longer on the agenda, which means that the solution of economic and social rights to provide protection is now replaced by another type with police and the military. It is based on the exclusion of migrants, refugees, and all people, like women, who were able to claim their rightful place in the past. This is the deeper meaning of the anti-diversity and anti-migration policies in all rich countries. Anarcho-capitalist influence can only strengthen these new policies and reduce people to workers without rights. Protection, then, is not inclusive anymore but rather highly exclusive.

In this way, the circle is complete and we are back to where we were more than one century ago. Huge inequalities, little or no social protection, slavery-like working conditions in the platform sector, and “special economic zones” or tech activities such as algorithm production.

Far-right parties are coming to power based on conservative values of promoting families and nationalism—their own known circle. So far, it’s happening without violence, but it is easy to see that violence lurks around the corner, if not from black shirts then from lone youths fighting for a mobile phone.

We do not know how Mr. Trump’s presidency will evolve. We do know that he opened many doors that will not be easy to close again, even if he disappears or loses. After having worked in the shadow, the new oligarchy is there to take power. Today's policies lie at the intersection of conservatism, anarcho-capitalism, and neoliberalism. We do not know how this will evolve. We do know that the anarcho-capitalists of Silicon Valley understand they can better work with the State than without it, consciously undermining its public and collective responsibilities. It has to protect markets and serve their private purposes.

Far-right policies are back, 80 years after the end of fascism in Europe, now at the global level. Democracy is reduced—in the best of hypotheses—to elections, not to political participation in any meaningful way. Human rights can easily be forgotten.

There surely is resistance, but not in any way to make it able to stop this very dangerous development.

A new century begins. Its fundamental principles were mentioned already in the Project for a New American Century founded in 1997. It was a neoconservative club that stopped working in 2006. Faced with the failure of neoliberalism, President Trump’s project goes way beyond and marries even more dangerous ideologies necessary for American imperialism but also for keeping social order in a world where poverty and inequality are winning.