Donald Trump has not destroyed a legitimate rules-based international order; rather, his actions have exposed the long-standing hypocrisy of a system in which the United States and its allies have frequently ignored international law while enforcing it selectively against their adversaries.

Even as the United States attempts to nudge its allies toward taking a tougher line on China, Washington is increasingly seen as an unreliable partner. Its pressure no longer brings automatic alignment. Other Western nations are choosing their own course.

The Munich Security Conference reveals a shift in transatlantic ties as AI security becomes central to global debate. Europe is increasingly linking AI policy to technological autonomy, seeking to balance cooperation with the United States while strengthening its own strategic capabilities.

Reaffirming legal limits is not an act of idealism. It is one of prudence. Strategic stability is not self-sustaining. It must be actively maintained. And in the nuclear age, maintenance begins not only with capability but with responsibility.

The old international order is being dismantled, even as a new one gradually comes into view. The interplay of major-powers, regional cooperation and global practices will continue to reshape that order as the parties attempt to stop the bleeding.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stood before the Munich Security Conference on 14 February 2026 and delivered a speech that will be remembered less for its

In a recent speech, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney declared the end of the rules-based order. Yet, U.S. unilateralism began accelerating in the 1980s, and much of the West complied so long as it remained beneficial. Today, that alignment no longer holds.

The world has entered a period of wrecking-ball politics. Leaders have risen to prominence by promising sweeping demolition rather than careful reform. They seek to tear down rules and institutions at home and abroad, which they falsely claim hinder both their efforts to build stronger, more prosperous countries as well as to prevent “civilizational decline.”

The U.S. president has been a bull in a china shop over the past year, shaking the international order to the core. Such shocks to the global governance system present new opportunities and challenges for BRICS to grow and leave its mark.

For Singapore, the China-U.S. relationship is much more than a bilateral concern. It has profound implications for the sense of security, strategic expectations and assessments of the future by all medium-size states.