New World Order: A Jungle of Power with America at the Center

The New World Order is often described as shaped by Trump’s unpredictable policy moves and his aim to reestablish the US as the dominant global power. While some argue that Trump seeks to revive the ideals of post-World War II liberal democracy, others believe he is shifting from a traditional rules-based order to one in which US interests take precedence.

Under this doctrine, middle-power countries and traditional US allies have little hope of asserting influence. Trump’s approach, once reserved for adversaries, is now also affecting allies like Canada and Europe, as American power is asserted. This reflects a significant shift in the rules-based international order, directly impacting America’s closest partners.

New World Order: Trump’s Manifest Destiny

Trump is actively reshaping global norms to assert a New World Order with the US at its center. His actions reflect a deliberate push by the administration to redefine international engagement, returning to a period when America projected strength while maintaining security at home. However, this strategy brings significant consequences for international stability.

Tucked into his speech was a mention of the 19th-century doctrine of “manifest destiny”. Actually, it was the idea that the US had the divine right to expand its territory across the continent and spread American ideals. At that moment, the Panama Canal was in his sights. “We’re taking it back,” Trump announced.

Trump’s New World Order: Broken Political Norms

Undoubtedly, the US history is littered with consequential and controversial American invasions, occupations, and covert operations to topple rulers and regimes. But, in the past century, no American president has threatened to seize the land of a longtime ally and rule it against the will of its people. No US leader has so brutally broken political norms and threatened long-standing alliances. Neither has underpinned the world order since the end of World War II.

Unquestionably, Trump’s New World Order seeks to make him the world’s sole power. Supporters describe Trump as possibly the US’s most “transformative” president. Meanwhile, supporters at home and abroad cheered him, while Moscow and Beijing maintained a watchful silence.

A World without Rules: New Turn in the Jungle

It’s a shift toward a world without rules. Moreover, international law is trampled underfoot. The only law that matters is the strongest, with imperial ambitions resurfacing. French President Emmanuel Macron stated a stark warning on the stage at the Davos Economic Forum, without directly mentioning Trump by name.

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday but avoided any direct mention of Trump. There is mounting concern over a possible painful trade war, and in some circles, worry that the 76-year-old Nato military alliance could now be at risk if, in the worst-case scenario, the US commander-in-chief tries to take Greenland by force.

Trump’s Free World: Life in the US is the Only Life without European Power

Trump believes the free world has been freeloading on American largesse for too long. He likened the US to Imperial Rome. “If you are lucky enough to live within the walls of the imperial citadel, which is to say here in the US, you experience American power as something benign. It protects you and your property and bestows freedom by upholding the rule of law. Moreover, it is accountable to the people through democratic institutions.

Donald Trump is clearly determined to bend the Europeans to his will over Greenland. He wanted ownership, he said. He declared that Denmark had only “added one more dog sled” to defend the territory. That speaks volumes to the undisguised contempt with which he and many in his inner circle appear to hold certain European allies. “I fully share your loathing of European freeloading,” Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told a group on messaging app Signal, adding “PATHETIC”.

Europe is Just a Player in the Game: Trump Wants the Best for the US Only

Then President Trump himself told Fox News recently that, during the war in Afghanistan, Nato had sent “some troops” but that they had “stayed a little back, a little off the front lines”. The comments provoked anger among UK politicians and veterans’ families. The UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, branded Trump’s remarks “insulting and frankly appalling”.

The UK prime minister spoke to Trump, after which the US president used his Truth Social platform to praise UK troops as being “among the greatest of all warriors”. Trump intends to unshackle the US from the system of transnational bodies created, in part by Washington, to regulate international affairs.

On the Menu if Not at the Table: No Middle Powers Survive

That document spells out how the US will put “America First” at the heart of its security strategy by using whatever powers it has. Clearly, they range from economic sanctions and trade tariffs to military intervention. The US is absolutely trying to bend smaller and weaker nations into alignment with US interests. It is a strategy that privileges strength – a return to a world in which the Great Powers carve out spheres of influence.

More importantly, the danger in this for what Canada’s prime minister called “the middle powers” is clear. “If you’re not at the table,” he said, “you’re on the menu.” America’s allies, especially Canada and Europe, were laying to rest what is now commonly called the rules-based international order. American unilateralism may not be new. What is new is that this time, it is America’s friends and allies that find themselves on the receiving end of American power.

Suddenly, Europeans and Canadians are getting a taste of something long familiar to other parts of the world. Previous presidents, including Barack Obama and Joe Biden, wanted European allies to spend more on their own security. Only Trump succeeded in making them act. In response to his threats, they agreed to raise their defence spending from around 2% of GDP to 5%, something unthinkable even a year ago.

World War Two: Trump’s New World Order

Confronted over Greenland, Europe is ditching its softly-softly approach to Trump. Dr Christopher Sabatini, Senior Research Fellow, talked about Latin America at Chatham House think tank in London. After World War II, under the so-called rules-based international order, the United States made multiple interventions in Latin America. “It’s not new. There are patterns of intervention that date back to 1823. There’s a term I use for American policymakers who advocate for unilateral US intervention. I call them “backyard-istas” – those who see Latin America as their backyard.”

The post-war rules-based international order did not deter the US from imposing its will on weaker neighbours. The fifth president of the US, James Monroe, announced this doctrine.  The doctrine bearing his name was widely seen as an expression of US solidarity with its neighbours. It is a strategy to protect them from attempts by the European great powers to recolonise them.

The US, after all, shared with them a set of republican values and a history of anti-colonial struggle. But the doctrine quickly became an assertion of Washington’s right to dominate its neighbors. It uses any means, up to and including military intervention, to align its policies with American interests.