After the unravelling: Confronting the new world order

After the unravelling: Confronting the new world order

From Lowy Institute by Lowy Institute

May 7, 2026 · 1h 0m

About this episode

Thomas Wright discusses the deliberate unwinding of the post-Cold War international order and its implications for global geopolitics.

The post–Cold War international order hasn't collapsed from a single shock. It's been deliberately unwound. Thomas Wright, a former Senior Director for Strategic Planning in President Biden's National Security Council, argues that China, Russia, and the United States have each adopted foreign policies that broke the foundational restraints holding the system together. By historical measures, what's emerged has the hallmarks of a pre-war environment.  Drawing on his time inside the White House, Dr Wright diagnoses how we got here and what may come next. From Xi Jinping's strategy of asymmetric economic dominance, to Putin's war of conquest in Europe, to Trump's redefinition of American alliances as transactional arrangements. This event was hosted by Sam Roggeveen, Director of the Lowy Institute's International Security Program, in Melbourne on Wednesday 6 May 2026. More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including  Spotify ,  YouTube  and  Apple . Follow the Lowy Institute on our  website ,  X ,  Instagram  or  LinkedIn. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People in this episode

Host: Sam Roggeveen

Guest: Thomas Wright

Topics covered

  • international order
  • foreign policy
  • geopolitics
  • China
  • Russia
  • United States
  • strategic planning

Keywords

  • international order
  • China
  • Russia
  • United States
  • foreign policy
  • geopolitics
  • strategic planning

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Lowy Institute

Places: China, Russia, United States, Melbourne

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