When we want to describe a world that is chaotic and dangerous, few metaphors are more apt than “jungle.” We say, “It’s a jungle out there.” Robert Kagan puts the term to good use in his 2018 book “The Jungle Grows Back.” He argues that the “liberal world order” that we have come to regard as inevitable is actually a mythical seven-decade reprieve from history- as-usual that began after World War II. For thousands of years, the story of humankind, Kagan says, is more accurately described as a “long tale of war, tyranny, and poverty.” These millennia were characterized by repression and disregard for the rights and interests of individuals.
