The Two-Tiered 'Global Order'

The U.S. is reminding the rest of the world every day that there is one set of rules for the U.S. and those in its orbit and a very different set of rules for everyone else.

Andreas Kluth writes in from a parallel universe:

If Biden uses his visit to Israel well, he’ll not only reassure Jews and well-meaning Muslims alike. He could also demonstrate to countries across the Global South that Washington, not Beijing or Moscow, is the closest thing to a warden of global order today [bold mine-DL].

If the U.S. really tried to act like a “warden of global order,” it would have to oppose and even punish violations wherever it found them, and it wouldn’t be able to let some states off the hook because they happen to be aligned with the U.S. In practice, clients get a pass no matter how many times or how egregiously they violate international law. The U.S. response to this conflict is a textbook example of how that works. The U.S. is reminding the rest of the world every day that there is one set of rules for the U.S. and those in its orbit and a very different set of rules for everyone else.