Nicholas Creel
The American-led international order that followed WWII isn’t dying. It’s dead, and it was America who killed it.
What is replacing it is quickly shaping up to look very much like what came before it, a world where the strong do as they wish and the weak accept what they must. The emerging order is set to make the world poorer, more violent and one in which America is better cast as a regional power than a global one.
While the writing has been on the wall for months, Trump’s attack on Venezuela and his capture of its president make clear that what was previously just bellicose rhetoric has become impossible-to-ignore action.
The U.S. attack on Venezuela will be seen by historians as the breaking point of one world order to the next, not just because it clearly violates the U.N. Charter’s prohibition on using force against another state’s territorial integrity, but because Trump has so overtly made clear that this was about oil. The postwar world was marked by systemic decolonization, yet the official policy of the U.S. is now nakedly one of colonial resource extraction.
Trump has justified these actions under what he calls the “Donroe Doctrine,” his narcissistic take on a 200-year-old imperial policy that justified U.S. occupation of Latin American countries. In so doing, he has removed any pretense that we’re building something new, but we are instead going backward into the future.
The administration has already doubled down on this mindset by threatening military action against Colombia and Mexico. After having tried and failed to use economic sanctions to coerce Latin American countries, it seems Trump has embraced not just the concept of the Monroe Doctrine but also the gunboat style diplomacy that often accompanied its deployment.
Meanwhile, Trump’s longtime obsession with the US acquiring Greenland illustrates that the US is turning on allies in Europe. His press secretary has confirmed that “utilizing the U.S. Military is always an option” to acquire the Danish territory. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller made threats that were even more explicit when discussing the topic, declaring, “We live in a world that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power.” When asked outright about the potential for the U.S. to use military force to acquire the island, he responded by quipping, “Nobody’s going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland.” Keep in mind that Greenland is part of Denmark, a NATO member.
The absurdity of our institutional moment is hard to overstate. The United Nations is headquartered in the United States, and we just brazenly violated its foundational charter. NATO’s core principle is collective defense, and its de facto leader is threatening to invade a member state. For other countries to continue operating within these institutions is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic after it hit the iceberg.
Alienating allies in Europe while embracing a policy of domination over Latin America means the world which America can influence is getting smaller. As former allies grow in power to counter our hostility, we will increasingly be limited to ever smaller spheres of influence. American is fast becoming more of a regional power than a global one, a process that was already in progress, but which has now been accelerated by our own self-destructive decisions.
What is taking the place of the American-led international order isn’t a new one, but the one that came before it. The pre-World War II world was one characterized by gunboat diplomacy, spheres of influence, and colonial resource extraction, all of which are now hallmarks of Trump’s first year in office.
Those who are hoping that this moment is only a temporary regression will soon see that the damage done is permanent. The postwar order was akin to a bridge that was burned by the very men who built it. No future American president will be able to reassemble the international institutions or credibility we have torched any more than they could restore ash into oak.
The isn’t making America stronger; it’s spectacular geopolitical self-harm. The post-World War II order delivered unprecedented American influence at minimal cost. Our alliances were force multipliers. International law legitimized our actions while constraining rivals. We’re trading all of that for temporary control of Venezuelan oil and hopes of what would be only symbolic territorial gains. Those celebrating America’s “strength” are confusing raw power with strategic advantage. Our rivals couldn’t have designed a better outcome.
* Nicholas Creel is an associate professor of business law at Georgia College & State University.
Source: https://www.newsweek.com/the-emerging-world-order-looks-like-the-old-one-opinion-11323587
