Clearer Contours |
What the world is entering now is not a sudden crisis, but the moment when a long, uneven transition becomes impossible to ignore. The geopolitical order that shaped the early 21st century did not collapse overnight; it eroded gradually. But in 2025, enough pillars cracked at once for the illusion of continuity to finally give way. For more than three decades, global politics rested on a loose but powerful consensus: open trade would expand prosperity, institutions would arbitrate conflict, and American leadership – even when contested – would ultimately stabilise the system.
That framework survived wars, financial crises, and political shocks. It did not survive 2025. What distinguished last year was not turbulence, but intent. Long-standing norms were not merely bent; they were actively dismantled. Trade rules were weaponised. Alliances were reframed as transactions. Institutions once treated as neutral referees were openly questioned, defunded or bypassed. At home and abroad, executive power expanded at the........