Globalization's Backlash: Echoes of the Interwar Era in Today’s World

Podcast: International HorizonsEpisode: Globalization's Backlash: Echoes of the Interwar Era in Today’s WorldPub date: 2025-05-10Get Podcast Transcript →powered by Listen411 - fast audio-to-text and summarizationThis week on International Horizons, RBI Director John Torpey interviews historian Tara Zahra, author of Against the World: Anti-Globalism and Mass Politics Between the World Wars (W.W. Norton, 2023). Zahra reflects on the historical parallels between the current backlash against globalization and the anti-globalist movements of the interwar period. She highlights how economic insecurity, the rise of mass politics, and anxieties over immigration and trade shaped political reactions in both eras, while noting key differences—such as the role of environmentalism today and the absence of a world war in recent memory. Zahra also discusses the collapse of the international economic system in the 1930s, the ideological diversity of anti-globalist movements, and the legacy of Bretton Woods. She proposes that revisiting elements of the post-WWII international order, including regional cooperation and economic stabilization, may offer insight into managing today’s fractured global landscape. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesThe podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ralph Bunche Institute, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.