The global rules-based order has been in freefall for years

Looking at the actions of Russia, China, North Korea, Israel, Iran and now the US in recent years, there is a tendency to turn a blind eye, pull the covers over your head and talk about the madness. The rules-based order we thought was here to stay after 1989 is no longer something we can rely on, if it ever was – as the recent self-serving actions of the US president and his sycophantic gang make clear.

Gordon Brown’s piece (As Trump threatens Greenland, it’s too clear: The free world needs a new plan – and inspired leadership, 20 January) offers a promising antidote to the chaos following the continued breakdown of post-war settlements. That agreement gave rise to the United Nations, NATO, and international bodies aimed at developing and maintaining democratic values. Brown wants to breathe new life into bodies like these, essentially by reiterating and revitalizing founding principles.

There is nothing in his proposals that fair-minded democrats can disagree with. It is about how to get there and how to maintain a global order that is collapsing as powerful nations continue to dominate the weak.

Only in Brown’s last few column inches is the giant elephant in the room acknowledged. He acknowledges that what has happened so far, and is likely to happen again without clear boundaries, is that global elites agree on how to balance their power.

The power of these elites has become widely recognized in recent years as controlling the elected representatives of large multinational corporations (eg big tech, big oil, big pharma, big defense). But even worse is the growing power of individual billionaires, whose wealth can exceed the GDP of mid-sized countries. This is not healthy.

It will take a lot more than kind words to get corporate and personal genies back in their bottles. But before we can attempt to give real meaning to whatever fancy words we use to describe the role of new or re-established global institutions, serious efforts are needed to curb their illicit influence. We definitely need to try soon, if it’s not already too late.
Alan Haley
Baschurch, Shropshire

• As Gordon Brown put it, the US-led Atlantic Charter was broken not “in the last few weeks”, but in the last two years, when US presidents gave Israel carte blanche over Gaza and now the West Bank.

It should not be Greenland that “signals the end of the world looking to the US for leadership” after US presidents funded and supported Israel’s policy of collective punishment, which most of the world regards as genocide against the Palestinians. Benjamin Netanyahu’s policy of demolishing every building in Gaza, despite the loss of life and injuries, is what must happen as early as 2024.

Unfortunately, most of the Western world had to keep quiet or join in, as did Britain, which instead of demanding sanctions against Israel continued to sell vital parts for the Israel Defense Forces’ F-35 fighter jets. How can his critics accuse Donald Trump of breaking international law in Greenland when they believe the Gaza beggars did exactly that.

Now, their silence is deafening as Israel expands illegal settlements in the West Bank, demolishes remaining buildings in Gaza and East Jerusalem, limits humanitarian aid, continues deadly airstrikes during the ceasefire and still denies access to the world’s press. International law was abandoned long before the Greenland crisis.
Bernie Evans
Liverpool

• Gordon Brown says that “the United States has abandoned its longstanding championing of the rule of law, human rights, democracy and the territorial integrity of nation states. Its longstanding support for humanitarian aid and environmental stewardship has ended.” seriously? Did he really believe that America had these qualities? Has he forgotten Chile? Indonesia? Panama? Nicaragua? Guatemala? El Salvador? Afghanistan? Libya? Iraq? Iran? Israel/Palestine? Lebanon? The list is long.

America has been a deadly influence, ruthlessly pursuing its own economic hegemony for more than a century, masquerading as the land of the brave, the home of the free. The democratic system of government has been destroyed and overthrown. Financing coups. Armed and trained abhorrent militias. Evil tyrant capable. In this America is aided by a parade of allies led by our own country.

Gordon Brown should re-read a bit of Noam Chomsky and shake his head. We really need to “choose diplomacy and multilateral cooperation over aggression and unilateral action”, but until the UN Security Council is reformed and the veto of its permanent members is abolished, it has been going on since World War II.
Steve Razetti
Hesketh Newmarket, Cumbria

• Gordon Brown, a respectable person, came up with a charter with a difficult stress on the current crisis. Sorry, Gordon, but don’t make me laugh. We have enough charters and proclamations to fill a library. The critical issue is that they don’t apply – multilateralism was captured before Trump tested it to destruction in his campaign. What is needed is a radical restructuring of the UN Security Council and an all-out diplomatic effort to reform the UN machinery so that it produces hard output – laws and decisions instead of “declarations” and waffle, while at the same time bringing more countries and interests into the decision-making process, making the UN more inclusive. It offers the best hope of counterbalancing the alliances held by the great powers in the existing UN Charter.
Neil Blackshaw
Alnwick, Northumberland

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