Image by Piotr Krzeslak licenced through Shutterstock.

A new world disorder: Why America’s retreat threatens us all

How America is dismantling the global rules-based order it once championed — and what you can do about it

The global, US-led rules based order is going up in smoke. Image by vladm licenced through Shutterstock.

Something once unthinkable is happening. The United States, long the steward of a global order built on cooperation, democracy, and open markets, is now shaking the foundations of the system it built and has held together for generations.

A wholesale retreat from the principles that underpinned decades of relative peace and prosperity is underway. As chaos replaces consensus, and as democratic allies grow wary, the world finds itself at a dangerous crossroads.

America was the architect of the post-war world order

After the ashes of World War II settled, the U.S. stepped into a role no country had ever filled: the architect of a liberal, rules-based international order. With unrivalled​ power and prosperity, the U.S. poured resources into building institutions that bound the free world together​ through diplomacy, trade, and shared values.