The staggering death toll of the coronavirus pandemic and the deep dysfunction it has exposed will forever alter domestic order in the U.S.  But lost in the flood of daily domestic tragedies is a shift that may prove as consequential as the pandemic itself: the death of the international political order commonly known as “globalization.”

Across the world, the pandemic has broken supply chains and strained old trade partnerships. The great economic alliance at the center of globalization ― the relationship between the United States ― the world’s great consumer powerhouse ― and China ― the world’s great manufacturing center ― is crumbling. It is far too early to foresee exactly how these two superpowers will reach new terms of coexistence, but whatever the ultimate result, the rest of the world is already preparing for a new order.