, Columnist
Ditch the ‘Rules-Based International Order’
The phrase is a linguistic atrocity, while the concept draws attention to American hypocrisy, in the Middle East and beyond. There’s an alternative.
I have a phrase this long.
Photographer: Eduardo Munoz/Getty Images
This article is for subscribers only.
People have laid down their lives for love, freedom, justice, the fatherland and more. But nobody has ever died clutching the banner of the Rules-Based International Order. It’s time to junk that cliche, and replace it with something more fitting.
That’s not only because the term is an Orwellian linguistic atrocity with all the emotive oomph of a Powerpoint slide. It’s also a shibboleth that, when used by American diplomats in particular, makes US foreign policy look hypocritical, from the Middle East to Africa, Asia and beyond.