Executive Summary

In absolute terms, the period after the Zeitenwende brought about by the end of the Cold War was a story of success. [...] Amid increasing geopolitical rivalry and a global economic slowdown, key actors in the transatlantic community, in powerful autocracies, and in the so-called Global South have become dissatisfied with what they perceive to be an unequal distribution of the absolute benefits of the international order. [...] From the perspective of many developing states, the international order has never delivered on its promise to grow the pie for the benefit of all. [...] China, perhaps the biggest beneficiary of the liberal economic order, and other autocratic challengers feel that the United States is curtailing their legitimate aspirations and are forcefully pushing for an even bigger share of the pie. [...] The populations of the Sahel, in turn, are losing the chance for peace and democratic progress.