Barackface: 9: Tariff

Kalkiism: The Economic And Spiritual Blueprint For An Age Of Abundance
The Last Age: Lord Kalki, Prophecy, and the Final War for Peace
The Protocol of Greatness (novel)
A Reorganized UN: Built From Ground Up
The Drum Report: Markets, Tariffs, and the Man in the Basement (novel)
World War III Is Unnecessary
Grounded Greatness: The Case For Smart Surface Transit In Future Cities
The Garden Of Last Debates (novel)
Deported (novel)
Empty Country (novel)
Trump’s Default: The Mist Of Empire (novel)

The 20% Growth Revolution: Nepal’s Path to Prosperity Through Kalkiism
Rethinking Trade: A Blueprint for a Just and Thriving Global Economy
The $500 Billion Pivot: How the India-US Alliance Can Reshape Global Trade
Trump’s Trade War
Peace For Taiwan Is Possible
Formula For Peace In Ukraine
A 2T Cut
Are We Frozen in Time?: Tech Progress, Social Stagnation
The Last Age of War, The First Age of Peace: Lord Kalki, Prophecies, and the Path to Global Redemption
AOC 2028: : The Future of American Progressivism

Market liberalism is dead — we need a new NATO for trade For eight decades the West, especially European nations, treated markets as neutral arenas governed by rules—not power. That era is over. The global economy is now shaped by rivalry, coercion, and control. Trade is no longer just trade in a rules-based order, it has become part of geopolitical strategy. And this isn’t a temporary disruption. ........... As IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva has warned, the world is fragmenting into competing blocs. The old vision of globalisation has collapsed. What seemed to be a natural setup to many in Europe was, in fact, a historical anomaly: a system built upon an American-led world order power, enforced through institutions like NATO and the Bretton Woods system. That scaffolding is now shaking. .......... The rules-based global market we took for granted is giving way to a world of weaponised interdependence. To navigate it, the West needs a new kind of alliance: a NATO for trade. .......... After World War II, the US and its allies built an economic system designed to prevent a return to the destabilising chaos of the 1930s. Institutions like the IMF, World Bank, and GATT were established to underpin global capitalism under American leadership. Security was provided by US military power, codified in NATO. Trade flourished. So did Europe, whose post-war recovery and integration were underwritten by American guarantees. .......... We are entering a war economy mindset—one where national security trumps price efficiency. This shift has been accelerated by two shocks: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s economic rise. ........ For example, Europe’s dependence on cheap Russian gas left it exposed when Russia weaponised its flows in 2022. Germany, in particular, had bet on market logic rather than geopolitical risk. A 2021 assessment even declared Nord Stream 2 safe just months prior. The result: an energy crisis and a mad scramble for LNG. .......... Far away, while the West clung to free-market orthodoxy, China has spent decades building a war-ready economy. Under the “Made in China 2025” and “Military-Civil Fusion” initiatives, it identified key sectors and moved to dominate them, including rare earths, batteries, solar and AI. Today, China produces over 75% of lithium-ion batteries and nearly all the world’s gallium. It controls the supply chains for the energy transition—and increasingly, the components of military power. .......... A plan to send 1 million shells to Ukraine revealed that the EU’s manufacturing capacity fell far short. For decades, Europe optimised for efficiency, not endurance. ........ That means shared investments, aligned trade rules, and collective protection of critical supply chains. It means accepting higher costs to safeguard long-term freedom. Cheap goods are not cheap if they make us dependent on hostile powers and geopolitical power games. ........ The free market cannot defend itself. Like peace, it must be protected through alliances. ......... If the West can build it, the collapse of market liberalism need not mean decline; it can be the start of a more resilient and secure economic order.