The world of today looks more illiberal and chaotic than at any point in history. Today, the Liberal International Order seems lacking in international norms such as respect for international commitments, the principle of sovereignty, and the right of self-determination. Wars and conflicts continue to escalate, threatening the peace of the world.
According to the report by the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, the world witnessed only 26 days of peace after the Second World War; the rest of the time, active conflict has remained in some part of the world. The increasing violation of territorial integrity and sovereignty of states, weak application of international law, and backsliding of countries from democratic to autocratic tendencies suggest that the world has moved from liberal to illiberal principles in the international order.
Besides, the prioritisation of national interests over common goals, understressed transnational treaties, and the curtailment of basic fundamental rights indicate that the liberal order is facing severe challenges at present. This illiberal attitude of the world is the result of weak and selective application of international law, the rise of populist regimes worldwide, unjust and unequal patterns of development, and the subsequent dissatisfaction and erosion of trust of the Global South in Western institutions.
To discuss the decline of the liberal order in detail, the illegal and unjustified invasions of the United States worldwide highlight the illiberal patterns in the Liberal International Order.
According to the IBON Foundation, a Philippine-based research institute, from 1945 to 2024, the United States has intervened in 96 countries. The majority of interventions were aimed at preventing communist expansion, and it also intervened in some countries using the pretext of the War on Terror.
The United States has also intervened militarily in Venezuela to capture President Maduro on allegations of narco-terrorism. In addition to this, Operation Epic Fury against Iran is the latest military involvement of Washington that shows the impunity with which it operates.
What is tragic is that most of its overt and covert operations are trumped up and have violated the sovereignty of states. President Trump’s sinister caveats in recent days towards the regime in Tehran could lead the world in general, and West Asia in particular, into a catastrophic conflict.
However, Islamabad’s diplomatic deftness seems to be succeeding in escaping the crisis by a narrow margin. Nonetheless, the situation remains volatile due to the unpredictable nature of global politics.
The United States is not the sole transgressor of the sovereignty of weaker states, as Russia is also involved in this regard. Its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 deteriorated the security landscape in Eastern Europe.
Developed countries have failed to invest 0.7 per cent of their gross domestic product in concrete actions to promote development in poorer countries, as per their commitment
The war is the most significant conventional conflict in Europe since 1945, initiated by Moscow. It reasserted its influence by preventing Ukraine from joining NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization), the Western-led security alliance.
Initially, there were many concerns about escalation involving NATO in the conflict, but now such concerns have reduced due to a policy shift with the arrival of President Trump in the White House with regard to Ukraine and NATO allies.
Nevertheless, the conflict has evolved from conventional military tactics to advanced unmanned systems and drone warfare. The conflict has also caused massive humanitarian and economic losses.
However, efforts were made for de-escalation in 2025 and early 2026, but the Ukraine war became an under-discussed topic after the opening of the war theatre in the Middle East. So, it also highlights that confrontation is prevailing over diplomacy and dialogue in the global order.
The liberal order envisioned peaceful coexistence, equality, and respect for the right to self-determination. But unfortunately, rogue states like Israel disregard such principles.
Israel’s genocide in Gaza is one such example that claimed more than 70,000 lives of innocent Palestinians since 7 October 2023. However, the Gaza Peace Plan ceased active violence, but it seems too little, too late, as it lacks the consolidation of Palestinians’ right to self-determination.
What further contradicts liberal principles is the selective interpretation of international law in contemporary times. For instance, the staunchest supporters of the Responsibility to Protect Doctrine, popularly known as the “R2P Doctrine”, in Ukraine’s case behaved as accomplices during the genocide in Gaza.
In fact, R2P is a doctrine adopted in 2005 by the United Nations with the objective that the international community takes collective action to prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity.
Furthermore, in the liberal order, treaties are supposed to be honoured, and states participate in international obligations to promote collective interests, peace, and security.
Whereas, in the contemporary global order, transnational treaties are under stress. States avoid coming under the obligations of new treaties and constantly search for ways to withdraw from new bilateral and multilateral agreements.
Putting the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance by India shows the illiberal side of the international order. In addition to this, the withdrawal of the United States from 66 treaties, including its exit from the most prominent Paris Agreement, signals that states prioritise national interests over global interests.
And certain regimes, instead of promoting security, sponsor cross-border terrorism. In this regard, Afghanistan and India are two launching pads of terrorism in the region, especially against Pakistan.
The International Crisis Group substantiates this by stating that Pakistan is the worst hit among all regional countries by the Taliban regime in Kabul. Hence, it suggests that states condone illiberal attitudes in contemporary global politics.
Furthermore, the free movement of goods, people, and ideas is also a missing element in today’s patterns of politics. The interdependence among countries is decreasing, which indicates a de-globalised world.
Countries are engaged in economic competition by imposing tariffs, trade barriers, and prefer to trade with their allies only. This phenomenon of trading with allies only is known as “friend-shoring” or ally-shoring in international relations.
States put restrictions on free transit and trade, especially during wars and conflicts. The weaponisation of energy by the Kremlin in the post-Ukraine war period, and the recent closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran, reveal the patterns of deglobalisation in the world.
The Global Risk Report 2026, by the World Economic Forum, also expresses such concerns that economic confrontation will be the topmost risk in the short term, whereas it has ranked extreme weather patterns as the most significant threat to the world in the long term.
Therefore, the world is witnessing a shrinking space for liberal values in world politics.
The unsustainable and traditional patterns of development also manifest the illiberal side of the world. Today, global military expenditure has reached $2.7 trillion, as per the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Yet, developed countries have failed to invest 0.7 per cent of their gross domestic product in concrete actions to promote development in poorer countries, as per their commitment.
It is a pity that the world spends trillions of dollars on the military, but 733 million people still face undernourishment, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization.
Alongside this, rising inequality is also a contradictory phenomenon to liberal principles. Oxfam, a widely cited organisation in development studies, extrapolates that 1 per cent of the population controls 40 per cent of global wealth, whereas 50 per cent of the population lives on just 2 per cent of global wealth.
Thus, it is believed that the liberal order is falling short today.
Lastly, democracy works as an intellectual base for the liberal order in the world. However, the world is witnessing democratic backsliding and rising autocratic tendencies in regimes.
According to the V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy) Index 2025, today the number of democracies (88) is less than the number of autocracies (91) in the world. As per V-Dem, only 29 countries can be considered true democracies in the world.
Hence, this is also a concerning development for those who are truly concerned about liberal values.
In order to rejuvenate the liberal order, states must show adherence to the Westphalian principles of the nation-state system.
Besides, international institutions should be reformed to address institutional shortcomings and the grievances of developing countries.
Finally, leaders must forge bilateral and multilateral cooperation, prefer dialogue over confrontation, and promote inclusivity over exclusivity in order to sustain the liberal world order.
Otherwise, an eye for an eye will make the world blind.