The "Rules-Based Order" Is Gone. Let's Not Bring It Back.

"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."

"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."

"Trump's erratic, even demented, global policies have stripped the mask off of American predation, yet his manic disruptions should not feed a romantic nostalgia about the rules-based order."

Trump's controversial statements about acquiring Greenland prompted international outcry from foreign-policy establishment figures defending the rules-based international order and American moral authority. However, this defense obscures a fundamental reality: the United States has historically made and enforced international rules selectively according to its interests. The same European leaders and establishment figures criticizing Trump's Greenland rhetoric remained silent or supportive when the U.S. bombed Iran and Nigeria, abducted Venezuelan President Maduro, and supported Israel's actions in Gaza. Trump's erratic policies—including tariffs, NATO criticism, and withdrawal from international organizations—have exposed rather than created the underlying hypocrisy of American foreign policy. The rules-based order was never truly universal; it functioned as a mechanism for American global dominance.

Read at The Nation