Chapter 3 reviews a quarter-century that future historians may see either as the first phase of the post-Cold War, post-hegemonic era, or instead as the final phase of the pre-Trump era. These events were put in motion by the Law of Uneven Growth, a destabilizing process characterized by higher growth for challengers than for the hegemon, and a process of Creative Destruction that disrupts the country's internal equilibrium. Taken together, they require that policymakers adapt to changing economic environments at home and abroad. The principal trend on the negative side was the rise and then the fall of protectionism, as US industries first fought and then accommodated themselves to greater global competition. Presidents also became increasingly prone to pursue discriminatory rather than multilateral liberalization. Both the negative and the positive options encountered rising difficulties over time, with presidents resisting protectionist pressures at the same time that Congress resisted further liberalization. These difficulties foreshadowed the events of 2016, when the United States would unexpectedly send an avowed protectionist to the White House.