New Kings of the World

By 1991, America had won the Cold War, and she celebrated with a spectacular display of power. Free market capitalism vanquished communism, and a new world order, one whose axis spun on the unrestrained, unregulated movement of capital, emerged. Neo-liberalism, aided by hyper-connectivity and communication technology, radically reengineered global economies and altered society to benefit the rich.

Neo-liberalism, aided by hyper-connectivity and communication technology, radically reengineered global economies and altered society to benefit the rich. Even as inequality deepened, accompanied by protests and violence, it managed to socialize a rising middle class into adherents and worshippers of consumerist capitalism.

though still little known in the West, is one of the icons of a vast cultural movement emerging from the Global South, including Turkish soap operas and Korean pop music. Truly global in its range and allure, it is the biggest challenge to America’s monopoly of soft power since the end of the Second World War