If world history were a spectacle, such as a film, over the last eighty years we would have seen films with very similar plots screened at the cinema. ---- The plots of those stories were written at the end of World War II by the leaders of the two countries that had been the main architects of the defeat of Nazism and Fascism. The tales were all very simple and therefore easily understood by anyone: the powers that dominated the world were two: on one side, the United States of America and on the other, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Alongside them were (almost) all the other states as allies in what was presented as a permanent ideological struggle between the capitalist and socialist systems. A conflict that, over the years, had often escalated into fierce wars in which Russians and Americans had confronted each other, mostly indirectly, but which had kept the planet in what was often called a "balance of terror," based on the threat posed by the nuclear arsenals possessed by the two superpowers. The most hypocritical also called this situation by another name: "World Order." A balanced system that, however, almost exclusively concerned the richest countries, which, at times, joined forces under various banners (UN, NATO), bringing war to countries that were not part of their alliances.
The monotony of the same script, repeated with small variations for decades and in every theater, would only change following the collapse of the USSR (1989-1991) and its allies, when that order, which had lasted for almost fifty years, dissolved and the balance associated with it disappeared. The spectacle had begun to become less comprehensible; in some cases, "old" enemies had become (almost) friends, and the plot had become more tangled, and not just for mere spectators. The "new" enemies had become others.
In this rather uncertain context, US President George H.W. Bush, in a speech to a joint session of Congress on September 11, 1990, stated: "A new partnership among nations has begun, and today we stand at a unique and extraordinary moment. The crisis in the Persian Gulf, grave as it is, also offers a rare opportunity to move closer to a historic period of cooperation. Out of these challenging times can emerge our fifth goal-a new world order-a new era-freer from the threat of terror, stronger in the pursuit of justice, and more secure in the pursuit of peace. A time when the nations of the world, East and West, North and South, can prosper and live in harmony." (1)
Needless to say, given what would unfold in the years to come, no prediction was ever more wrong. Many argued that the old plots would be replaced by new ones and that the lost international balance would somehow be restored. Some believed this spectacle could be called the "New World Order," but this label was not popular, and it was quickly appropriated by conspiracy theorists, and not just because of the timing.
At this point, in theaters and in the real world, one began to see everything: the emergence of new military and economic powers and the transformation of the former USSR into a state in which traces of the old Soviet Republic coexisted with widespread nationalism and aggressive capitalism. Wars continued to break out in various parts of the world, and religion (not just Islam) had regained an important and very dangerous place in society. In many countries, the Age of Aquarius had died in its cradle.
Today, the ubiquitous specialists in global analysis report that a new equilibrium is emerging between states and economies, a "multipolar" one, so called also to highlight the difference from the "bipolar" one that preceded it. Not everyone, however, is convinced that this is a good thing, and there are even those who believe that this process is not finished, but is still ongoing, and that the international instability we are witnessing is concrete evidence of this. Opinions regarding the merits of the changes and their stability brought to the plot of the show are discordant and vary significantly. Still holding firm, regardless of ridicule, are those convinced that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."
One of the side effects of the global situation is that the space dedicated by the media system to international news is often greater than that reserved for other events. Experts have estimated that "in 2024 and the first four months of 2025, foreign news coverage on evening news programs[...]has reached its highest level since 2012." International news has now reached 38% of the total, confirming a growth trend that began in 2012. In particular, "foreign news coverage on major television networks ranges from 34% to 49%," with the lowest coverage being 29% (2).
Today, the international landscape, both politically and economically, appears much more unstable than it was previously, and many of the politicians at the top almost seem to be doing their best to fuel this state of affairs. To continue along the same lines, the show currently unfolding could be titled "New World Disorder." And a new equilibrium could be based precisely on the stabilization of a continuous "disorder" that would have the undoubted advantage of escaping understanding, as well as rules, more.
We live in a world where that happens even thousands of kilometers away can impact our lives, even in a significantly positive or negative way. However, in most cases, these are events over which we have no direct power, which is sometimes also true for the governments of some countries.
Our information environment has become filled with news, analyses, comments, and debates that have ended up completely hiding what is happening regarding things that are much closer to our daily lives. To give an example, if on the one hand there is a predominance of international issues within the media system, on the other hand the space dedicated to other problems becomes practically non-existent, not only at the international but also at the local level: in Italy, almost 5.7 million people live in conditions of absolute poverty, but this state of affairs is practically invisible at the media level. Between 2024 and 2025, a study found that "out of 33,217 indexed news items," only 708 were relevant, "equal to 2% of the entire news agenda" (3).
If it is true that today International news dominates the public narrative, which means, among other things, that all other issues are becoming increasingly less visible. So, on the one hand, we witnessed the enormous mobilization last year that filled the streets and squares of Italy to protest the massacre of residents in the Gaza Strip. And, on the other, the realization that such a force has yet to be deployed for one of the many issues affecting less distant issues: healthcare, education, rising consumer prices and tariffs, starvation wages and pensions, and so on.
Obviously, this isn't to argue that priority should be given exclusively to struggles concerning local issues, nor to argue that internationalist struggles are futile. Rather, it's to draw attention to the fact that the narrative of the present, as it is managed by politicians and disseminated by the media, risks permanently overshadowing what's happening in our own backyard.
In other words, we must remember, even if the current global "disorder" continually risks distracting us, that the first enemy we must fight, as always, is It's what we have at home.
Pepsy
(1) Translated from https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Address_Before_a_Joint_Session_of_the_Congress_on_the_Persian_Gulf_Crisis_and_the_Federal_Budget_Deficit.
(2) See COSPE, Osservatorio di Pavia, FNSI, USIGRAI, "Illuminating the Suburbs. Information on Foreign Affairs. Report 2025. 7th Edition."
(3) See "Media Poverty. The Story of Poverty in TV News, Talk Shows, and Social Media" by Monia Azzalini and Giuseppe Milazzo. It's in Caritas Italiana, "Low Cut. How Poverty Makes News" 2025.
https://umanitanova.org/un-ordinato-disordine-mondiale/
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Link: (en) Italy, FAI, Umanita Nova #5-26 - An Orderly Global Disorder -- Understanding Changes, Identifying Objectives (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]
Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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