The “Rules-Based Order” Is Gone. Let’s Not Bring It Back.
This framing isn't accidental.
Log In
Email *
Password *
Remember Me
Forgot Your Password?
Log In
New to The Nation? Subscribe
Print subscriber? Activate your online access
Skip to content Skip to footer
The “Rules-Based Order” Is Gone. Let’s Not Bring It Back.
Magazine
Newsletters
Subscribe
Log In
Search
Subscribe
Donate
Magazine
Latest
Archive
Podcasts
Newsletters
Sections
Politics
World
Economy
Culture
Books & the Arts
The Nation
About
Events
Contact Us
Advertise
Current Issue
Feature
/ March 11, 2026
The “Rules-Based Order” Is Gone. Let’s Not Bring It Back.
Trump has destroyed a global system that mostly benefited the rich and powerful. We need to create something completely different in its wake.
Robert L. Borosage
Share
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Email
Illustration by Adrià Fruitós.
This article appears in the
April 2026 issue, with the headline “The “Rules-Based Order” Is Gone.”
When Donald Trump, our mad king, declared that “we are going to do something on Greenland whether they like it or not,” because “ownership” is “psychologically important for me,” the reaction was immediate and predictable.
The foreign-policy establishment—what the former Obama speechwriter Ben Rhodes dubbed “the Blob”—erupted in fury. Trump was trampling the so-called rules-based international order. “Territorial integrity and sovereignty are fundamental principles of international law,” lectured Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission. Trump was endangering what Iraq War champion Bill Kristol called our “relatively benign order,” one that, neoconservative nabob Robert Kagan sermonized, was held together in part by “America’s reputation for morality and respect for international norms.”
There’s no question that Trump’s erratic, even demented, global policies— “Liberation Day tariffs,” dubbing NATO allies the “enemy within,” whining about a Nobel Peace Prize snub while bombing seven countries as well as fishing boats in the Caribbean, kidnapping Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, pulling out of international organizations, and more—have stripped the mask off of American predation.
But Trump’s manic disruptions should not feed a romantic nostalgia about the “rules-based order.” The very same European leaders and anointed members of the Blob expressing outrage about Greenland were largely silent or supportive as Trump bombed Iran and Nigeria, abducted Maduro, and continued to aid and abet Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Nor should Trump’s follies whitewash the history of the rules-based order. His villainy may not be masked, but the reality is that the United States has always made the rules—and served as global policeman, judge, jury, and executioner.
Post–World War II America has been at war virtually nonstop, with more than 200 military interventions since 1950. We’ve launched wars against Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya, among others. Barack Obama, that Nobel Peace Prize–winning champion of democracy, ran what was essentially an assassination bureau out of the White House while bombing seven countries.
Current Issue
April 2026 Issue
In 2015, under Obama, the United States supplied arms to 36 of the 49 …
This framing isn't accidental.
Log In
Email *
Password *
Remember Me
Forgot Your Password?
Log In
New to The Nation? Subscribe
Print subscriber? Activate your online access
Skip to content Skip to footer
The “Rules-Based Order” Is Gone. Let’s Not Bring It Back.
Magazine
Newsletters
Subscribe
Log In
Search
Subscribe
Donate
Magazine
Latest
Archive
Podcasts
Newsletters
Sections
Politics
World
Economy
Culture
Books & the Arts
The Nation
About
Events
Contact Us
Advertise
Current Issue
Feature
/ March 11, 2026
The “Rules-Based Order” Is Gone. Let’s Not Bring It Back.
Trump has destroyed a global system that mostly benefited the rich and powerful. We need to create something completely different in its wake.
Robert L. Borosage
Share
Copy Link
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Illustration by Adrià Fruitós.
This article appears in the
April 2026 issue, with the headline “The “Rules-Based Order” Is Gone.”
When Donald Trump, our mad king, declared that “we are going to do something on Greenland whether they like it or not,” because “ownership” is “psychologically important for me,” the reaction was immediate and predictable.
The foreign-policy establishment—what the former Obama speechwriter Ben Rhodes dubbed “the Blob”—erupted in fury. Trump was trampling the so-called rules-based international order. “Territorial integrity and sovereignty are fundamental principles of international law,” lectured Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission. Trump was endangering what Iraq War champion Bill Kristol called our “relatively benign order,” one that, neoconservative nabob Robert Kagan sermonized, was held together in part by “America’s reputation for morality and respect for international norms.”
There’s no question that Trump’s erratic, even demented, global policies— “Liberation Day tariffs,” dubbing NATO allies the “enemy within,” whining about a Nobel Peace Prize snub while bombing seven countries as well as fishing boats in the Caribbean, kidnapping Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, pulling out of international organizations, and more—have stripped the mask off of American predation.
But Trump’s manic disruptions should not feed a romantic nostalgia about the “rules-based order.” The very same European leaders and anointed members of the Blob expressing outrage about Greenland were largely silent or supportive as Trump bombed Iran and Nigeria, abducted Maduro, and continued to aid and abet Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Nor should Trump’s follies whitewash the history of the rules-based order. His villainy may not be masked, but the reality is that the United States has always made the rules—and served as global policeman, judge, jury, and executioner.
Post–World War II America has been at war virtually nonstop, with more than 200 military interventions since 1950. We’ve launched wars against Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya, among others. Barack Obama, that Nobel Peace Prize–winning champion of democracy, ran what was essentially an assassination bureau out of the White House while bombing seven countries.
Current Issue
April 2026 Issue
In 2015, under Obama, the United States supplied arms to 36 of the 49 …
The “Rules-Based Order” Is Gone. Let’s Not Bring It Back.
This framing isn't accidental.
Log In
Email *
Password *
Remember Me
Forgot Your Password?
Log In
New to The Nation? Subscribe
Print subscriber? Activate your online access
Skip to content Skip to footer
The “Rules-Based Order” Is Gone. Let’s Not Bring It Back.
Magazine
Newsletters
Subscribe
Log In
Search
Subscribe
Donate
Magazine
Latest
Archive
Podcasts
Newsletters
Sections
Politics
World
Economy
Culture
Books & the Arts
The Nation
About
Events
Contact Us
Advertise
Current Issue
Feature
/ March 11, 2026
The “Rules-Based Order” Is Gone. Let’s Not Bring It Back.
Trump has destroyed a global system that mostly benefited the rich and powerful. We need to create something completely different in its wake.
Robert L. Borosage
Share
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Email
Illustration by Adrià Fruitós.
This article appears in the
April 2026 issue, with the headline “The “Rules-Based Order” Is Gone.”
When Donald Trump, our mad king, declared that “we are going to do something on Greenland whether they like it or not,” because “ownership” is “psychologically important for me,” the reaction was immediate and predictable.
The foreign-policy establishment—what the former Obama speechwriter Ben Rhodes dubbed “the Blob”—erupted in fury. Trump was trampling the so-called rules-based international order. “Territorial integrity and sovereignty are fundamental principles of international law,” lectured Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission. Trump was endangering what Iraq War champion Bill Kristol called our “relatively benign order,” one that, neoconservative nabob Robert Kagan sermonized, was held together in part by “America’s reputation for morality and respect for international norms.”
There’s no question that Trump’s erratic, even demented, global policies— “Liberation Day tariffs,” dubbing NATO allies the “enemy within,” whining about a Nobel Peace Prize snub while bombing seven countries as well as fishing boats in the Caribbean, kidnapping Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, pulling out of international organizations, and more—have stripped the mask off of American predation.
But Trump’s manic disruptions should not feed a romantic nostalgia about the “rules-based order.” The very same European leaders and anointed members of the Blob expressing outrage about Greenland were largely silent or supportive as Trump bombed Iran and Nigeria, abducted Maduro, and continued to aid and abet Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Nor should Trump’s follies whitewash the history of the rules-based order. His villainy may not be masked, but the reality is that the United States has always made the rules—and served as global policeman, judge, jury, and executioner.
Post–World War II America has been at war virtually nonstop, with more than 200 military interventions since 1950. We’ve launched wars against Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya, among others. Barack Obama, that Nobel Peace Prize–winning champion of democracy, ran what was essentially an assassination bureau out of the White House while bombing seven countries.
Current Issue
April 2026 Issue
In 2015, under Obama, the United States supplied arms to 36 of the 49 …
0 Comments
0 Shares
23 Views
0 Reviews
