The post-second world war taboo on acquiring territory through force or by the threat of force is being unravelled by a generation of political leaders, led by expansionist threats from Donald Trump that are unprecedented for a US president.
Experts are warning that a combination of the Russian aggression against Ukraine and Trump’s comments explicitly pushing for the US to acquire Greenland, Canada, the Panama canal and Gaza is fuelling a permissive environment that threatens long-recognised borders and the international rules-based order that has existed since the end of the war.
The norm, enshrined in article 2 of the UN charter of 1945, states that “all members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state”.
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The headline of an essay in the current issue of Foreign Affairs puts it bluntly: “Conquest is back.”
I think that risks emboldening other countries to test the waters and see if there is any pushback or not.
Yeah they are called Israel.
Israels power is 99% US power. If US loses power Israel will as well.
The entire concept of a “rules based order” ever existing is also complete bullshit; just exceptionalism propaganda. The US has overthrown like a dozen democratically elected governments since WW2, and replaced them with puppet dictatorships. They didn’t carpet bomb south east Asia for a decade, and slaughter a million people, in defence of “democracy”. It was 100% self serving, and denied those people their basic human rights, including democracy.
The US is an imperialist nation, and always has been.
But now it’s happening to them, Russia has managed to overthrow the American government and placed their puppet in power. America is getting a very literal taste of their own medicine.
I fully agree
Your Ttime line and story’s main topic are off
Hes not breaking a taboo, hes talking about invading other NATO members
The rules based order is gone.
It was on the way out after the invasion of Iraq and israel’s Gaza Holocaust just confirmed it.
israel’s Gaza Holocaust just confirmed it.
I swear people think this shit started Oct 7
It would seem; If you want to hold on to your territory, you need nukes.
Or treaties. Make a pact with another country to assist each other if territory is invaded.
Unless that country happens to be one that just ignores contracts they don’t like.
Canada has treaties… with the US. Doesn’t seem to be helping so far.
The thing that pisses me off about westerners is how most of them seem to think international law ever mattered outside the imperial core/first world. I mean come the fuck on.
The only thing related to Rules-Based Order being dropped is the theatre of it - there was never a Rules Based Order for the US.
All it takes is to look at the completely different reaction to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine and the Israeli Occupation of Gaza from the Democratic Party - any “rules-based” thinking would yield a negative reaction for both, not a completely different one for “adversary invading white nation” and “ally mass murdering brown neighbors”.
Strip out the theatrics and the only real rules are “Might makes right” and “Non-whites are unimportant” even for self-proclaimed “anti-racist” liberals - look at their choices and actions, not what they say.
Yes, but Trump does represent a qualitative change. At least there was some consensus in Washington before him, both on domestic and international affairs. That made the US rather predictable. You knew where your values and interest met theirs and where they did not. That is no more. The US is now home to both some of the most forward thinking people and institutions and some of the most influential regressive beliefs. And all helmed by a fan of the latter and whose tempers change by the minute. The US is right now in some regards a bigger source of uncertainty than either Russia or China, erratic and extremely polarized as it has become. And it’s not only markets that hate prolonged uncertainty. Foreign governments and the people do too.
Rules based order my ass
I hope everyone’s got their fingers ready to waggle in disagreement!
What disagreement? This is literally what Rubio said in his confirmation hearing.
The joke was referring to the amount of head-shaking and tsk tsking that’s happening every time the government does something fucking horrible. I’m expecting the same once they invade another country.
