An increasingly divided world

Workers everywhere fear lost jobs and wages. Citizens fear new faces crossing borders, and terrorists and criminals who kill for reasons no one can understand. They fear that government cannot or will not protect them.

Then the call for help is answered. Populists like Donald Trump and right-wing politicians challenging establishment politics in Europe have a gift for drawing boundaries. They offer a vision of separation, of "us vs. them," of the citizen fighting for his rights and protections against those who would steal them. Depending on the country, "them" may mean rich or poor people, foreigners or minority groups, politicians, bankers, or journalists. The populists are speaking to people who fear they are losing their sense of security and standard of living, and that their nations are losing their identities.

There's a larger crisis coming. The storms...