Huthaifa
Everyone praising Mark Carney’s speech as “bold,” “brave,” or “eloquent,” and treating it as evidence that the West can still rescue itself, is still misunderstanding the nature of the crisis.
The “rules-based international order” didn’t erode gradually or mysteriously; it collapsed the moment Western governments showed that the rules don’t apply when the violator is an ally. Gaza didn’t expose a weakness in the system that could be patched or repaired; it revealed what the system actually is.
For two years, the Western world didn’t merely fail to restrain Israel; it funded it, armed it, vetoed accountability, rewrote legal standards in real time, and criminalized dissent at home. International law was selectively suspended, not overwhelmed like some people want to say, and once legality becomes conditional, the concept itself ceases to exist.
That was the real point of no return in 2023. Not because Donald Trump violating the sovereignty of Greenland broke the order, but because the precedent was set in full view of the world: mass killing can be lawful if it’s committed by the right state, against the right people, with the right patrons. After that, no appeal to “norms” or “institutions” can be taken seriously again.