Experts said successive wars are fundamentally reshaping the global order and altering the strategic role of NATO.
This shift matters because it signals a potential decline in U.S. dominance over international security frameworks, forcing allies like Japan to reassess their own geopolitical balances.
Akemi Akimoto of the Royal Institute for Defence Studies and Shinji Hyodo of the Defense Research Institute said these changes during a broadcast on BS-TBS in Japan. The analysts examined how deeper Russian attacks in Ukraine are driving a transformation in the international system. They said that NATO may be moving toward a posture that is less dependent on U.S. leadership, a trend described by TBS NEWS DIG as a "de-Trump" or "de-US" direction.
While some reports suggest NATO is distancing itself from U.S. centrism, other perspectives indicate the U.S. continues to act as a primary force reshaping the world order. This contradiction highlights the uncertainty regarding how much influence Washington will maintain over European security in the coming years.
Beyond Europe, the experts identified the Arctic Sea as a new flashpoint for global competition. As ice melts and strategic interests clash, the region is becoming a critical zone for military and economic positioning. This expansion of conflict zones suggests that the stability established after the mid-20th century is eroding.
The current international system relies on structures established decades ago. For example, the United Nations was founded in 1945 [1] to prevent the very types of systemic collapses now being discussed by these analysts. However, the emergence of new conflicts and the evolving strategy of NATO suggest those legacy frameworks may no longer be sufficient to maintain global peace.
“Successive wars are fundamentally reshaping the global order.”
The transition toward a 'de-US' NATO and the opening of the Arctic as a strategic front indicate a shift from a unipolar world to a fragmented, multipolar environment. For non-European powers like Japan, this means security can no longer rely solely on a single superpower's umbrella, necessitating more diverse and autonomous defense strategies.
