The rising use of restrictive trade measures around the world and political incidents like the trade disputes between China and the US show that the world order, which has been predominantly liberal over the last decades, is currently shifting towards protectionism. In this post, we discuss the role of restrictive trade policies and the possible economic consequences of increasing protectionism for developing countries — Episode 4 of our “New Walls” series.

While the Berlin Wall was toppled thirty years ago, new walls have continued to crop up around the world – virtual ones, blocking or limiting internet access to avert political dissent — Episode 3 of our “New Walls” series.

China’s so-called “Great Firewall” blocks citizens’ access to the outside world and to each other. But in the end, the virtual blockade might undermine the communist party’s own goals — Episode 2 of our “New Walls” series.

What has become of the hope for freedom in a borderless world, thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall? Instead of disappearing, more and more hard border fortifications arise — Episode 1 of our “New Walls” series.

Restrictions on free speech, unfair elections and populist hunger for power – it is by no means just autocrats who have been tightening the screw of repression. Governments in democracies have also increasingly been trying to govern with a hard hand. And social division is deeper than it has been for a long time.