Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine on the European Union's eastern flank, the United States' disregard and contempt for the international order under President Donald Trump, and the allegations that Israel has violated humanitarian law in the Middle East conflict have shocked many Europeans .
The world order that took shape after World War II appears to have come to an end. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated at the Munich Security Conference in February 2026: "This order, as imperfect as it was even in its best days, no longer exists in that form."
However, in Asia, political observers are often surprised at the consternation of some Europeans. During the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual Asian security conference held in Singapore, former Singaporean diplomat Bilahari Kausikan told DW "Europe thought the jungle had been tamed for good. And then it got a shock."
"Competition and conflict are fundamental characteristics of international relations. These enduring, harsh truths were obscured for a brief period—perhaps about 20 years from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the outbreak of the global financial crisis. This was an extraordinary phase in world history," he added.
The US as we knew it is not coming back
Marc Saxer, Asia Pacific head of Germany's Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation, told DW that European and Asian worldviews are shaped by different historical experiences. Under the protective umbrella of United States , Europe was able to dream of a liberal world order. For Asia, that was unthinkable.
Saxer considers efforts to maintain a liberal world order to have failed, and he believes that "a return by the US to the role it played until the 2010s is impossible for structural reasons."
The political analyst said the unipolar era is definitely over, as the US has overextended itself strategically with conflict zones in Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific.
Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff, director of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), told DW that the US under Trump is now attempting to "establish a hegemonic world of great powers, a kind of global directorate along with Russia and China," amounting to spheres of influence controlled by great powers.
As a result, international law and multilateral institutions such as the United Nations are being undermined by the United States, China and Russia (each for its own reasons and with its own intentions).
According to Saxer, who has published a book under the same title, the result is a "wolf world," meaning a world "in which the law of the strongest triumphs over the strength of the law."
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Middle powers push back
Naturally, most other countries have no interest in such a world. But what counter-trends are emerging?
Kleine-Brockhoff identifies three specific reactions, each of which depends on a country's geographic location and strategic environment.
Japan, which lies in proximity to the rising power of China and has few like-minded partners in the Asia-Pacific region, has no choice but to try to deepen its cooperation with the US.
Europe, which forms a geographical unit and is politically intertwined, is focusing on "strengthening itself economically and militarily," according to Kleine-Brockhoff. In doing so, it is trying to keep the US on board for as long as possible during the transition phase in order to ultimately stand on its own two feet.
The third model—a kind of counter-alliance of the middle powers—was articulated by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in his highly acclaimed speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2026.
"The old order will not return. We should not mourn it. Nostalgia is not a strategy. But from this rupture, we can build something better, stronger and more just. That is the task of the middle powers," he said.
German Chancellor Merz also made a similar statement at Davos that the old world order was "unraveling."
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Analyst Saxer said that it is important to note how non-Western countries are now playing a role in determining the future of global order.
"What makes this historic turning point so special is that, for the first time in centuries, non-Western powers are playing a decisive role in shaping the next world order." Unlike in the past, "order will no longer mean Westernization," he added.
Regulatory frameworks will need to take into account both China's concept of order—where rules serve the collective rather than the individual—and the beliefs of the Muslim world, which are based on the community of believers. However, there are also conflicts within these conceptions of order, such as those between Shiite and Sunni Islam.
What could a new g…
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