The New World Order and Its Unravelling – From Bush Snr to Trump

·27 min·2 clips

Host Nick Shepley argues we are living through the end of a world order that began in 1991 and is now reaching its apogee.

The episode opens with the host's thesis that the world order in place since 1991 is reaching its endpoint, potentially leading to international chaos. He frames the discussion around Christina Spohr's book 'Post Wall Post Square'. The analysis begins with the unexpected and relatively peaceful collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, noting the temporary validation of 'end of history' theories and contrasting it with Putin's view of the event as a tragedy. The host digresses into the Soviet Union's economic failures, exemplified by central planning producing surpluses of mismatched goods like shoes. The core of the episode examines President George H.W. Bush's State of the Union address on January 29, 1991, where he proclaimed a 'new world order' in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. The host quotes extensively from Bush's somber, moralistic speech, which invoked World War II analogies and emphasized U.S. leadership and Soviet cooperation. The narrative then highlights the domestic political tensions Bush faced, including recession and criticism from Democratic leaders like Senator George Mitchell. The episode contrasts this 1991 moment with the present, arguing the language of liberal internationalism has been 'eviscerated' under Trump. It characterizes Trump not as a unique figure but as an 'avatar' of decay, capitalizing on public weariness from the interventions of both Bush presidencies. The host posits that Trump's actions, like engaging with Iran, aim to rip apart the 'Pax Americana' and revert to a 19th-century great power model. A key argument is that American cultural and economic hegemony was underpinned by the petrodollar and military power. The episode concludes by assessing Iran's actions as a fundamental, strategic defeat for American power, accelerating a fragmentation that began with the unravelling of the post-Cold War order. The host reiterates that Trump is an accelerant of this ongoing decline.

As heard by us

A sober account of how Cold War hopes gave way to a longer crisis in international order.

The end of the Cold War lands less as a victory lap than as a test of judgment. The episode tracks George H.W. Bush as he tries to balance democratic ideals, his working relationship with Gorbachev, and the immediate pressures of the Gulf conflict while the Soviet Union breaks…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want to understand how a post-1945 world order entered its 1991 stage, with Bush and Gorbachev at the hinge and Trump as an accelerant later on.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Explaining History