I don't mourn the passing of the World Order. Perhaps because I'm not certain it really will be a passing. It may have some zombie strength yet.
But if it does pass, I don't mourn it. Many do, already. Like my dear friend, below.
But first I want to rewind a bit.
I'm a traitor to my class. Yes, I am!
What class is that, you ask? The Elite class. The class of upper middle class people in charge of "things". I've long been a member of it, not by choice, but simply by what job I had and what and how I was doing. Which is fine. I'm now a traitor to the class, for I belive we've abandoned the working and middle classes in our western countries. They are suffering, and it's because of we Elites. It's because, lately, because of the World Order that's done so much to increase wealth since the end of the last world war.
I'm thinking about this because a close friend, a close leftie friend, sent me out of the blue an article from the Financial Times urging "liberals" to mourn the passing of that order.
On reflection, I decided I did not mourn it. It had done a job. It had been successful. But since at least 2000, it's been working only for the favour of Elites and big-state mercantilists.
But even if I don't mourn its demise now, I've not always been agin it.
I remember liking the New World Order. No, not liking it... loooving it.
Non punitive treatment of the war losersThe Marshall PlanThe United Nations established: with mainly US moneyThe General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which became the World Trade OrganisationThe Koran war: kept the ROK safe for Democratic capitalism, vs North Korea
Many mistakes. The Vietnam war. Iraq. Afghanistan.
But overall, yeah, kept the world humming along.
The greatest beneficiaries: the Elites. Like me. And my dear friend. And most everyone around us here. A class that I'm now a traitor to. For supporting Trump and his focus on the middle classes, the working classes in middle america, that's apostacy from the group, from our tribe.
But I can't help it. If the Reps don't stand for the working and middle classes who will? It used to be the Dems, but they have abandoned them. For the inner City Elites.
The United Nations, meantime, has been thoroughly corrupted. Eg...
But all this breakdown in the "World Order" happened not because of Trump, but because other forces at work. The end of the Cold War. The rise of China and its lawless, mercantilist trading practices.
Peter Zeihan: The Global World Order is collapsing and it's much more than Trump. [May have some useful insights.]Marco Rubio: Speech to MSC. [For the perspective that we have to worry about the survival of the West, arguably more than the passing of the World Order.]
For reference, a summary, courtesy Grok, of the article that my friend was talking about. (Which I got because it's behind a paywall).
But if it does pass, I don't mourn it. Many do, already. Like my dear friend, below.
But first I want to rewind a bit.
I'm a traitor to my class. Yes, I am!
What class is that, you ask? The Elite class. The class of upper middle class people in charge of "things". I've long been a member of it, not by choice, but simply by what job I had and what and how I was doing. Which is fine. I'm now a traitor to the class, for I belive we've abandoned the working and middle classes in our western countries. They are suffering, and it's because of we Elites. It's because, lately, because of the World Order that's done so much to increase wealth since the end of the last world war.
I'm thinking about this because a close friend, a close leftie friend, sent me out of the blue an article from the Financial Times urging "liberals" to mourn the passing of that order.
But even if I don't mourn its demise now, I've not always been agin it.
I remember liking the New World Order. No, not liking it... loooving it.
Non punitive treatment of the war losersThe Marshall PlanThe United Nations established: with mainly US moneyThe General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which became the World Trade OrganisationThe Koran war: kept the ROK safe for Democratic capitalism, vs North Korea
Many mistakes. The Vietnam war. Iraq. Afghanistan.
But overall, yeah, kept the world humming along.
The greatest beneficiaries: the Elites. Like me. And my dear friend. And most everyone around us here. A class that I'm now a traitor to. For supporting Trump and his focus on the middle classes, the working classes in middle america, that's apostacy from the group, from our tribe.
But I can't help it. If the Reps don't stand for the working and middle classes who will? It used to be the Dems, but they have abandoned them. For the inner City Elites.
The United Nations, meantime, has been thoroughly corrupted. Eg...
But all this breakdown in the "World Order" happened not because of Trump, but because other forces at work. The end of the Cold War. The rise of China and its lawless, mercantilist trading practices.
Peter Zeihan: The Global World Order is collapsing and it's much more than Trump. [May have some useful insights.]Marco Rubio: Speech to MSC. [For the perspective that we have to worry about the survival of the West, arguably more than the passing of the World Order.]
For reference, a summary, courtesy Grok, of the article that my friend was talking about. (Which I got because it's behind a paywall).
The article by Janan Ganesh, titled "Liberals should mourn the passing world", was published in the Financial Times on February 13, 2026. It's a paywalled opinion piece in the Life & Arts section, so the full text isn't openly accessible, but available previews, snippets, and references provide a clear outline of its core argument.The gist is that liberals (in the classical sense—proponents of open markets, international institutions, free trade, democratic norms, etc.) should actively grieve and defend the post-1945/ post-Cold War "liberal world order" rather than downplay it, apologize for it, or accept its decline with resignation or self-criticism.Key points from the visible excerpts and promotions:
- Ganesh argues this was the most successful international order in history — delivering unprecedented prosperity, peace (relative to prior eras), and progress, especially for Western countries.
- He notes that no country profited more from this order than the United States (or perhaps the broader West), yet there's a tendency among some liberals to be apologetic or detached about its erosion amid rising populism, great-power rivalry, protectionism, and authoritarian challenges.
- He urges liberals not to cede the narrative to its "enemies" (populists, nationalists, authoritarians) who attack or dismiss it. Instead, they should mourn its passing openly and toast/celebrate what it achieved.
- There's a cultural hook: Ganesh references a line from Top Gun that's been "haunting" him, likely tying into themes of nostalgia, loss, or the need to fight for/remember a fading era (though the exact quote isn't in previews).
- The tone is elegiac but defiant — liberals should stop self-flagellating and recognize the value of what is being lost as the world shifts toward a more fragmented, illiberal phase.
It's positioned as a call to intellectual and moral clarity for center-left/center-right liberals in an era where the old rules (globalization, multilateralism, etc.) feel increasingly under siege. The piece has been popular on the FT site (top-read in opinion) and shared in certain online circles (e.g., neoliberal-leaning discussions on X/Twitter and Reddit).
If you have FT access, the full URL is https://www.ft.com/content/3dd3f37b-a783-4f12-a837-764e9f429b01.
Otherwise, copy that link and paste into the bottom box at: https://archive.ph/
Sounds so lovely, doesn't it, summarised like that.
But it weren't all so rosy:
The order’s successes were uneven: globalization lifted global GDP but hollowed out Western industrial heartlands, fueling resentment that populists exploit. Financial deregulation enabled growth—and the 2008 crash that eroded trust. Interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, sold as liberal triumphs, became quagmires costing trillions and credibility. Inequality within rich nations soared even as absolute poverty fell.Before the end of the Cold War, and especially before China joined the WTO in 2001, the road was rocky but everyone was on it. Since China joined, as a "Developing country", for goodness sake, the road has been that oft-mentioned horror: the K-shaped one. A road down, and a road up. We the elites enjoyed the up road. The poorer nations plus the middle classes whose jobs were being decimated, were on the low road.
As Peter Zeihan, no Trump fan, has noted, this all happned before Trump. It was not him that initiated it. He's just handling the outcome. In the case of America, to be America First. To use tariffs as a weapon. To push allies to cover their own defence spending. To use Force for peace.
