Dissecting the Roots of 21st Century Western Tribalism

The United States—and to a lesser extent the United Kingdom and Europe—stands at a critical juncture. Two waves of Washington Consensus–era liberalism since the early 1980s hollowed out Western middle classes, as standard economic theory would predict. The 2008 global financial crisis and the bipartisan policy responses that followed further exposed the prevailing economic order as one that disproportionately benefits multinational corporations, the ultra-wealthy, and highly educated liberal elites. It is, indeed, undeniable that this order succeeded in dramatically reducing global poverty and improving living standards across much of the developing world. Yet its domestic political and social costs have proven severe in The West. In the United States, in particular, these effects have intensified sociopolitical tensions to alarming levels. The central divide is not simply between left and right, but between continued commitment to Enlightenment values and the growing pull of tribalism. In this brief note, I draw parallels between U.S. developments since 2008 and Turkey’s socioeconomic and political trajectory from the 1980s through the 2020s, and conclude by outlining three potential remedies.