The Jungle Grows Back: Adjusting to a Post-American World

Document Type

Report

Publication Date

10-7-2026

Publisher

Brookings Mountain West

Abstract

As part of the Brookings Scholar Lecture Series, Brookings Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy Robert Kagan explained how the world order, created by the United States after World War II, is at risk of being imperiled by jungle-like chaos. History rarely unfolds in a straight line. Periods of apparent stability often conceal profound shifts that become visible only in retrospect. In 1925, Europe seemed peaceful, the global economy was flourishing, and many believed the devastation of the First World War had given way to a more stable international order. Within little more than a decade, that order had collapsed, ushering in economic fragmentation, renewed great-power rivalry, and ultimately global war.

Today, the international system established after World War II is under increasing strain as the United States reconsiders the global role it has played for eighty years. If that order continues to erode, the world may be entering another period of rapid and far-reaching geopolitical transformation. A return to multipolar competition could reshape alliances, revive regional arms races, weaken international institutions, fragment the global economy, and complicate cooperation on challenges ranging from nuclear proliferation to climate change.

Understanding these moments of systemic transition—and drawing on history to anticipate their consequences—is essential if policymakers and citizens alike are to prepare for a world that may look fundamentally different from the one to which they have become accustomed.

Keywords

United States; History; Government; Global economy

Disciplines

American Politics | International and Area Studies | Political History | Public Policy | United States History

Run Time

01:00:13

Streaming Media

Language

English


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