James Traub is a columnist at Foreign Policy, nonresident fellow at New York University’s Center on International Cooperation, and author of the book What Was Liberalism? The Past, Present and Promise of A Noble Idea.
TAMPA, FL - AUGUST 30: Balloons drop as Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Republican vice presidential candidate, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) take the stage after accepting the nomination during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on August 30, 2012 in Tampa, Florida. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was nominated as the Republican presidential candidate during the RNC which will conclude today. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel addresses an election campaign rally of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Neuss, western Germany on September 21, 2017, during the final days before Germans head to the polls. / AFP PHOTO / PATRIK STOLLARZ (Photo credit should read PATRIK STOLLARZ/AFP/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 27: Area Muslims and local immigration activists participate in a prayer and rally against President Donald Trump's immigration policies on January 27, 2017 in New York City. President Trump has taken actions since the inauguration to start the building of a long promised wall along the Mexican border and to cut federal grants for immigrant protecting 'sanctuary cities'. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
ST LOUIS, MO - OCTOBER 09: Donald Trump, Jr. (R) greets his father Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump during the town hall debate at Washington University on October 9, 2016 in St Louis, Missouri. This is the second of three presidential debates scheduled prior to the November 8th election. (Photo by Rick Wilking-Pool/Getty Images)
French presidential election candidate for the far-right Front National (FN) party, Marine Le Pen (L) and French presidential election candidate for the En Marche ! movement, Emmanuel Macron pose prior to the start of a live brodcast face-to-face televised debate in television studios of French public national television channel France 2, and French private channel TF1 in La Plaine-Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on May 3, 2017 as part of the second round election campaign.
Pro-EU centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen face off in a final televised debate on May 3 that will showcase their starkly different visions of France's future ahead of this weekend's presidential election run-off. / AFP PHOTO / POOL / Eric FEFERBERG (Photo credit should read ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 08: Former FBI Director James Comey is sworn-in before testifing before the Senate Intelligence Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill June 8, 2017 in Washington, DC. Comey said that President Donald Trump pressured him to drop the FBI's investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and demanded Comey's loyalty during the one-on-one meetings he had with president. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
French president-elect Emmanuel Macron waves at supporters before delivering a speech in front of the Pyramid at the Louvre Museum in Paris on May 7, 2017, after the second round of the French presidential election.
Emmanuel Macron was elected French president on May 7, 2017 in a resounding victory over far-right Front National (FN - National Front) rival after a deeply divisive campaign. / AFP PHOTO / POOL / THOMAS SAMSON (Photo credit should read THOMAS SAMSON/AFP/Getty Images)
A picture shows a vandalised campaign poster of French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron (L) of the En Marche ! movement in Lyon on May 1, 2017 ahead of the second and final round of the French presidential election on May 7. / AFP PHOTO / JEFF PACHOUD (Photo credit should read JEFF PACHOUD/AFP/Getty Images)
Leftist Front de Gauche (FG) leader Jean-Luc Melenchon takes part in a demonstration in support of the Greek people on February 15, 2015 in Paris. At least 2,000 people marched through the streets of Paris on February 15 heeding the call from unions and far-left organisations to voice their support for Greece and its new leftist anti-austerity government. AFP PHOTO / LOIC VENANCE / AFP / LOIC VENANCE (Photo credit should read LOIC VENANCE/AFP/Getty Images)
Dutch politician Geert Wilders, leader of the Freedom Party (PVV) poses for a portrait in The Hague on March 2, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / ANP / Robin van Lonkhuijsen / Netherlands OUT (Photo credit should read ROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN/AFP/Getty Images)
Head of the Front National (FN) far-right party, Marine Le Pen, gestures during a press conference on October 28, 2015, in Besancon, where she attended an election campaign for FN top candidate for the upcoming regional elections for the Bourgogne Franche-Comte region, Sophie Montel. AFP PHOTO / SEBASTIEN BOZON (Photo credit should read SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP/Getty Images)
