20260122 Die regelbasierte Ordnung retten

22.01.2026 Die regelbasierte Ordnung retten

NATO - an alliance of sovereign states?

The history of the rules-based order was not entirely true, Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney explained yesterday in Davos. Excuse me? We have been taught this mantra for decades, along with the idea that we must enforce this order on other countries (in the South). Now Belgium's Prime Minister Bart De Wever has gone one step further in the same place, as Bernd Müller reports in the linked Telepolis article: "Being a happy vassal is one thing. Being a miserable slave is another."

This brings us back to the Middle Ages, where the feudal lord rules and demands tribute (in future 5% of GDP) and protects his slaves if they obey him – provided, of course, that they are willing to sacrifice their lives for him.

Rule-based order?

This no longer seems to apply to the US. International law is now merely a hollow phrase, multilateral institutions previously celebrated as an achievement are now dispensable for the US, and the sovereignty of foreign states no longer applies. Even global trade rules are now only enforced selectively and for the US's own benefit.

It is time for the EU to look for other partners with whom equal relations are possible ...