The Collapse of the Postwar Order

# Why This Matters The erosion of the postwar international system represents a fundamental realignment with immediate consequences for global stability and American interests. For nearly eight decades, the architecture built around Western military superiority—including NATO, bilateral defense treaties, and dollar-denominated trade—has provided predictable frameworks that deterred major power conflict and allowed economic interdependence to flourish. As this order fragments, nations are rapidly repositioning themselves, leading to renewed great power competition in previously stable regions, proliferation of regional conflicts without superpower guardrails, and the breakdown of rules-based mechanisms for resolving disputes. The practical effect is a world where military intervention becomes more likely rather than less, alliances become transactional rather than durable, and the costs of miscalculation—particularly in Asia and Eastern Europe—have grown substantially.