THERE is no doubt President Donald Trump has shaken up the world order by his disruptive and unilateral policies. From upending the global trading system to launching military attacks in the Western Hemisphere and beyond, he has shown contempt for international law and the sovereignty of other nations. For someone who vowed to end wars and not start new ones, his aggressive actions and rhetoric suggest the contrary. Trump’s ‘America First’ foreign policy means riding roughshod over others. His deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, aptly described the Trumpian worldview when he poured scorn on a “rules-based system” and declared: “We live in a world, in the real world, that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power.” That means the exercise and projection of raw American power, whatever the consequences. What kind of world is emerging from this? To be sure, Trump is acting in an environment already characterised by a fragmenting global order and increasing disregard for international rules and norms by other big and regional powers. The use of hard power by countries has become all too frequent in pursuit of a ‘might is right’ approach. Trump is reinforcing or sharpening these trends and pushing the world into a Hobbesian state of lawlessness. Today, the world has increasingly become one ruled by impunity. In a speech to the General Assembly over a year ago, UN Secretary General António Guterres said the world had entered “the age of impunity”. He was prompted to say this by the Israeli aggression and desperate situation in Gaza but he was also referring to the growing number of countries acting this way. “They can invade another country, lay waste to whole societies” and “thumb their nose at international law”, he said, pointing to the fact that this “age of impunity” is everywhere. He is, of course, right. This era of impunity is reflected not just in the US assault on Venezuela and bombing of Iran but the genocide carried out by Israel in Gaza, its military attacks on neighbouring countries, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and India’s military strikes against Pakistan. None of these powers thought their actions entailed much cost and they faced no international accountability. Countries have to navigate a no-rules world amid great uncertainty and volatility. If international institutions were designed to deter and check such behaviour that isn’t happening in today’s no-rules world. Multilateralism and multilateral organisations have been under stress for well over a decade. But the attitude of big powers, especially Trump’s conduct, has accelerated this trend and magnified the pressure. The UN’s paralysis and ineffectiveness are evident from its failure to stop the genocide in Gaza, the war in Ukraine and end other conflicts, such as in Sudan. Its growing irrelevance is laid bare by its role as a bystander in wars and crises, unable to perform its core responsibility, albeit due to big power politics and clashing interests. The result is a loss of faith in multilateralism with trust in global institutions at a record low. The recent withdrawal by the US from 66 international organisations including 31 UN entities is another setback for the multilateral system and will further weaken it. The world has now entered an era of a ‘new great game’ which involves intense resource tussles between the big powers. It is reflected in the competition between the US and China over rare earths and critical minerals essential for semi-conductor and defence industries. In this regard, the US under Trump is trying to catch up with China, which has built a virtual monopoly, having made strategic investments in these sectors over decades, including in Africa. China has a near-monopoly in the extraction and processing capacity of rare earth minerals, which are used in electronics, electric cars and military weapon systems including fighter jets. Last year, it used its leverage in the rare earth elements global supply chain to push back against US tariffs. Beijing imposed restrictions on exports of rare earth minerals which forced Washington, faced with an industrial shutdown, to back off and lower tariffs. The Trump administration is now frenetically seeking to reduce its dependence on China by developing alternative sources of supply. It is hosting G7 ministers this week to discuss this. It struck a minerals deal with the Democratic Republic of Congo, which sought US mediation for a peace accord with Rwanda. Washington also signed a mineral resources agreement for joint investment with Ukraine. Of course, the resource battle is not limited to minerals even if that is an important new front. It rages over oil, as Trump’s action in Venezuela shows, over technology and other vital commodities. It is a throwback to the past when colonial powers competed for resources and occupied countries to pillage their resources. What some analysts have called America’s “resource imperialism” has familiar echoes of the past. The Middle East continues to figure as a region of conflict and volatility that is consequential for international peace and security. Beyond Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which has temporarily paused under Trump’s peace plan, the region is witnessing a high-stakes contest for regional dominance. But instead of the old confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the Middle East is facing tensions between Gulf states who are competing on many fronts and are engaged in proxy wars to establish their regional ascendancy. The rivalry between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates erupted into the open over Yemen. The two countries back different sides in Sudan and have divergent interests in Libya and Syria. UAE’s close ties with Israel adds another dimension to the geopolitical competition. The US shift in policy priority to China and disengagement from the Middle East over the years created a power vacuum that Gulf states are trying to fill in their contest for influence. The KSA-UAE power struggle is, above all, about who will become the main trade and investment hub. KSA is now planning a military coalition with Egypt and Somalia to contain UAE’s regional power. Their rivalry is destabilising for the region and compounds its challenges. With geopolitical tensions and geoeconomic confrontation intensifying across the globe this points to a disordered world. It challenges countries to navigate a rule-less terrain in an environment of great uncertainty and volatility. The writer is a former ambassador to the US, UK and UN. Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2026