Being Caught on the ‘Wrong Side of History’

The author contrasts the historical consciousness and cultural and intellectual environment of the Victorian political elite with that of today. The 2020s are revealing a world in transition between what had become an increasingly globalist postwar era and its successor era which looks set to be more regional and 'nationalist'. This piece argues that today's managerial class would be much better placed to deal with our own transition if they were less hubristic and more able to assess reality outside the rather narrow confines of recent history and official 'orthodoxy'.

Alastair Paynter is a strategist, historian and the London Correspondent for the Defense and Foreign Affairs group of publications of the International Strategic Studies Association. He is also the author of Bow of Odysseus substack, where he writes about historical and strategic subjects.

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