We all knew that we’d be seeing plenty of analyses on what happened after Trump’s victory. I found this piece, The End of the Anglo-American Order, by Ian Buruma in NYT Magazine. Buruma, a Dutch scholar born several years after the end of WW2, connects Brexit with the election of Trump and the other populist movements we’ve seen in Europe. If I’m reading it right, he views these movements as a rejection of the world that the Brits and the Americans designed after WW2. Buruma understands that most Americans and Birtons think of themselves as exceptional people that live in exceptional countries, a feeling that gained steam after the defeat of the Nazis and the resistance to communism. He sees these votes as a very protest against the things that made us feel exceptional.
It is a fascinating piece – well worth the read.