Commentary
The U.S.-dominated “rules-based world order” is, for the moment, dead, or at least moving into abeyance after its three-quarters of a century lifespan.
The current global strategic architecture—the framework of states and their political alignments—along with all the accepted norms that sustain the balance of power, has already transformed to the point where all strategic presumptions must be reconsidered.
A “rules-based world order” is a historical reflection of the power structure of any given age. The current iteration is essentially the first time the phrase “world order” has been used, and the implication is that it is an order that was essentially a universally-agreed regime, a framework of behavior covered by international law. While it has nominally been a framework agreed upon by the United Nations, this “rules-based world order” was essentially defined by the Western states that won World War II, particularly by the United States….