Opinion | ‘It makes you richer’, and four more defences of the liberal global order Trump voters need to hear

Marc Grossman says while Donald Trump and other populists attack international institutions, his opponents fall back on vague phrases like ‘rules-based’. Supporters of these institutions need to show how they improve lives, and explain them clearly

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Published: 4:00am, 20 Jul 2018Updated: 6:05am, 20 Jul 2018

During almost three decades as a member of the US Foreign Service, I was privileged to play a modest role in nurturing what many call the “liberal rules-based international order”. Today, that order is under attack.

The words “liberal rules-based international order” mean nothing to 99 per cent of Americans. Indeed, this mantra is likely to be heard as an elite chant emerging from what President Donald Trump derides as the “swamp”.

The urgent challenge is to convince a larger audience that the international system the United States defends remains crucial to Americans’ wealth and power.

Donald Trump waves to the crowd during a rally in Great Falls, Montana, on July 5. Photo: Bloomberg

Most are better off thanks to US leadership of a globalising economy and multilateral international political system, but not all are. Millions around the world feel financially insecure and culturally neglected. They fear their countries’ best days are behind them – many voted for Brexit, Trump and Hungary’s authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

While supporters talk of complexity, nuance and interconnectedness, Trump talks directly to voters’ fears and anxieties. Speaking to the UN General Assembly in September, Trump said he wanted a world defined by “sovereignty, security and prosperity” – an order people who feel beleaguered can understand.