I would like to thank Samuel Moyn and Nils Gilman, as well as the anonymous reviewers at Humanity, for their helpful feedback on this essay. In addition, comments by the participants of the Weatherhead Initiative on Global History seminar at Harvard University, especially Arne Westad, Angélica Márquez-Osuna, Sven Beckert, and Quinn Slobodian, as well as additional feedback from Thomas Field, Vanni Pettinà, Stuart Schrader, Erez Manela, Giuliano Garavini, and Vijay Prashad, was invaluable.