In America and Britain, inward-looking protectionist policies draw growing support. With that, an era of globalisation may be drawing to a close, akin to the shift that took place at the start of the 20th century when World War I ended a time of open trade, and protectionist policies came to the fore during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

… The writer is a distinguished fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University.