The Rise & Fall of the Liberal International Order

Summary. Is there such a thing as a “liberal international order” anymore? The most succinct and terse answer to this question is: No. And this is not without a reason. Reports from the past few weeks suggest that it was killed off by US President Donald Trump, who joined Israel in an all-out war on the Islamic Republic of Iran without any legal basis or rationale. In pursuit of his America-First agenda, Trump has thrown out the rulebook on trade, international relations, respect for human rights and, as we have seen with the bombing of Iran, the use of lethal force against sovereign states. So, is this the end of the liberal international order, or will other liberal states be able to salvage something from the geopolitical wreckage?