Is This The New World Order?

The Old Order Collapses, Finally -- Robert Kaplan, Stratfor

There has been something both conclusive and convulsive -- and yet sustaining -- about the crisis in Ukraine that has caused people to believe we have now entered a new chapter in international relations. As other commentators have noted, the old order has collapsed. By that they mean the period erstwhile labeled the Post Cold War.

This is a stunning formulation because it means at face value that all the blood and tragedy in Afghanistan and Iraq were not enough to signal a new phase in history, while the past few months in Ukraine were. But how can that be? The answer is that historical periods evolve very gradually -- over the years, during a decade of fighting in the Middle East, say -- whereas our recognition of these changes may happen only later, in an instant, as when Russia annexed Crimea.

Let me define what others have referred to as the "old order," as well as where I think we stand now.

Read more ....

My Comment: When I read stories like this one .... Pentagon to close 21 facilities in Europe (The Hill) .... the world is indeed undergoing a military/economic/political realignment .... but driven more by economic limits than anything else.

Update: I am not a fan of Peter Beinart .... but he has a good article that details the decline in U.S. strategic thinking in this new world order .... Putting Ukraine in Its Place.

Update #2: Even US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel (of all people) is getting involved on this "new world order" debate .... SecDef Hagel Says New World Order Being Built.

Update #3: Another commentary on the "end of the old order" .... A Great-Power Outage -- Vali R. Nasr, New York Times