The 2025 Davos summit marked a definitive recognition that the old American-led liberal order has ended in a 'rupture, not a transition,' with no clear new order emerging to replace it.

China's industrial transformation represents the largest socioeconomic experiment in human history, with unprecedented scale in infrastructure, green energy, and manufacturing that Western analysts struggle to comprehend without oscillating between fascination and dismissal.

China's industrial transformation represents the largest socioeconomic experiment in human history, with unprecedented scale in infrastructure, green energy, and manufacturing that Western analysts struggle to comprehend without oscillating between fascination and dismissal.

The Biden administration attempted to restore American liberal hegemony through sophisticated industrial policy and semiconductor restrictions on China, while the Trump administration operates through transactional deal-making without coherent strategy.

The Biden administration attempted to restore American liberal hegemony through sophisticated industrial policy and semiconductor restrictions on China, while the Trump administration operates through transactional deal-making without coherent strategy.

America faces a fundamental energy policy contradiction: Trump focuses on hydrocarbons while China builds an 'electrostate' with solar capacity that could enable global climate stabilization, but Western politics rejects this Chinese capacity for protectionist reasons.

America faces a fundamental energy policy contradiction: Trump focuses on hydrocarbons while China builds an 'electrostate' with solar capacity that could enable global climate stabilization, but Western politics rejects this Chinese capacity for protectionist reasons.

Rather than transitioning from American to Chinese hegemony, the world may be entering a permanent state of multiple overlapping 'ordering attempts' without coherent global structure—not an interregnum but a new normal of managed chaos.

Rather than transitioning from American to Chinese hegemony, the world may be entering a permanent state of multiple overlapping 'ordering attempts' without coherent global structure—not an interregnum but a new normal of managed chaos.

Fired After 13 Years

Name: Fired After 13 Years
Uploaded: 2026-02-03T19:59:09.473546
Duration: 17 min 39 s
Description: This episode of The Ezra Klein Show features historian Adam Tooze discussing the rupture in the global order following the 2025 Davos summit. Tooze, who attended Davos, describes how Trump's second administration and its chaotic presentation marked a definitive end to the post-Cold War American-led

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Overview

This episode of The Ezra Klein Show features historian Adam Tooze discussing the rupture in the global order following the 2025 Davos summit. Tooze, who attended Davos, describes how Trump's second administration and its chaotic presentation marked a definitive end to the post-Cold War American-led liberal order, forcing world leaders like Mark Carney to acknowledge we're in a "rupture, not a transition." The conversation explores China's rise, America's changing role, and what comes next in this uncertain era.

Key Takeaways

The 2025 Davos summit marked a definitive recognition that the old American-led liberal order has ended in a 'rupture, not a transition,' with no clear new order emerging to replace it.
China's industrial transformation represents the largest socioeconomic experiment in human history, with unprecedented scale in infrastructure, green energy, and manufacturing that Western analysts struggle to comprehend without oscillating between fascination and dismissal.
The Biden administration attempted to restore American liberal hegemony through sophisticated industrial policy and semiconductor restrictions on China, while the Trump administration operates through transactional deal-making without coherent strategy.
America faces a fundamental energy policy contradiction: Trump focuses on hydrocarbons while China builds an 'electrostate' with solar capacity that could enable global climate stabilization, but Western politics rejects this Chinese capacity for protectionist reasons.
Rather than transitioning from American to Chinese hegemony, the world may be entering a permanent state of multiple overlapping 'ordering attempts' without coherent global structure—not an interregnum but a new normal of managed chaos.