The liberal international order has shaped global politics since the end of the Second World War. But in an age of rising authoritarian powers, renewed great-power rivalry, and domestic political backlash, its future appears increasingly uncertain. Is liberal internationalism in terminal decline—or is it evolving to meet the challenges of a changing world?

In 2016, writing in The Washington Post, Daniel Drezner asked: “where have all the big IR theories gone?” Since then, many other IR scholars have confirmed that IR theorising appears to have reached a dead end. Given that “there is nothing so practical as a good theory” (Kurt Lewin), the current impasse of IR theory is not just an academic matter – especially not in a world characterised by resurgent authoritarianism, pressing global environmental threats, and the spread of life-altering technologies.