Elayne Clift (elayne-clift.com) has written this column about women, politics, and social issues for almost 20 years.
BRATTLEBORO-This year has barely begun, and already we find ourselves facing a dangerous world in which old norms and rules are changing or disappearing rapidly.
We have yet to realize what the ramifications will be of what is taking place - not just for our own country but for all countries, irrespective of geography, economic stability, and political leadership.
A piece in The Washington Post in December shared a speech by Ishaan Tharoor on behalf of the World Food Program USA. It began like this. "A troubling dynamic seems to be shaping global politics. Humanitarian crises are surging, even as the support systems and international cooperation required to address them are failing."
Tharoor cites a report by the International Rescue Committee, which chose the theme "New World Disorder" for its 2026 Emergency Watchlist report, which illuminates unimaginable and growing crises in at least 20 countries already facing huge humanitarian crises.
These crises are directly connected to shifting global politics that will affect every one of us in one way or another because of increasing conflicts and their impact, resulting in crises that are no longer local.
These critical situations will pose the threat of wars driven by international power plays, which Tharoor described as "the growing importance of profit over protection in the world's conflict zones."
Tharoor adds that "we can no longer say that the rules-based order is the defining anchor of the global system." He worries about an "anarchic form of globalization without rules," and believes more than ever that we are in an "age of impunity" that includes the loss of legal rights and ignores laws, including those related to war.
The U.S. actions in Venezuela are a sign of what could happen, in part because of growing impunity for world leaders, including Donald Trump and his attempts to interfere with Columbia, Cuba, and Greenland for starters. Who knows what he plans to do in other countries?
It's clear already that the breakdown of national systems and international relationships are leading to chaos and possible anarchy, which has huge implications. Analysts are already worrying about China taking over Taiwan, Russia taking over Europe, and, under Trump, the United States taking over several countries in Latin America while eying countries in the Middle East.
Talk about a new world order in which oligarchs and dictators take over the world and fascism prevails.
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The idea of a revised world order is not new. At the end of World War II, for example, Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin met in Yalta to consider the postwar reorganization of Germany and Europe.
The meeting had significant implications for other regions of the world. Some analysts suggest that the idea of colonization became an issue there.
Politicians, academics, and economists have debated the idea of a world order historically and long before Yalta. It's just that it seems terrifying in today's global political landscape.
The possible collapse of the NATO alliance is now real. That alliance has kept us safe from global disasters for nearly 80 years. If it collapses, every country will be on its own should wars proliferate in every region of the world. It's a stunning and frightening thing to contemplate.
The term "new world order," as it's being used now, already suggests a significant and dramatic shift in the global balance of power, political thought, economic justice, food security, legal rights, and other issues that affect daily life. Migration, immigration, education, scientific advances, and access to health care are already threatened.
There are important lessons to be learned from the past. These lessons require qualified and humane leaders and advisors who can view the world as a global community through the lens of social justice, human rights, and a sustainable planet.
That's a tall order, and it's no secret that the three great powers right now - China, the U.S., and Russia - have leaders devoid of a commitment to peace, equity, rules of law, and social democracy, making that humane vision seemingly impossible.
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But more than ever, the need for global cooperation on myriad issues is vital, because issues like climate change, pandemics, and economic crises now transcend national borders.
Each of these potential crises highlights the limitations of a state-centric system and the need for new, negotiated, and agreed-upon forms of governance.
Most of us realize that alliances like that seem too difficult to achieve, but any change in governing arrangements and power dynamics among nations will ultimately require accountability, viable and effective legal structures, institutions grounded in shared progress, and guardrails if all of us are going to avoid a catastrophic future.
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As historian and social critic Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. once said, "We are not going to achieve a new world order without paying for it in blood as well as in words and money."
But we can still hope and try to effect a likely new global order that calls for and is grounded in honesty, genuine collaboration, and a commitment to survival - no matter who we are and where we inhabit our shared world.
This Voices column was submitted to The Commons.
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