Global eye | The world in disorder
Over the past decade, INDIA TODAY trained its lens on the terror, wars and great-power rivalries that reshaped the world
The past decade has seen the global order slip from managed instability into a far more volatile landscape, shaped as much by terror and internal collapse as by great-power rivalry.
The past decade has seen the global order slip from managed instability into a far more volatile landscape, shaped as much by terror and internal collapse as by great-power rivalry.
The political rupture came early with the rise of Donald Trump, whose ‘America First’ worldview hollowed out faith in alliances and multilateralism. His trade war with China—and the spillover of tariff pressure onto America’s own partners—signalled that interdependence could no longer be relied upon as a stabiliser.
Violence, however, became the defining grammar of the decade. The Paris terror attacks of 2015 and subsequent strikes across Europe underscored the persistence of transnational jihadist networks even after the territorial defeat of ISIS. Terrorism no longer needed state sponsorship or safe havens; it thrived in fractured societies, online radical ecosystems and weak policing spaces.
Conventional war returned with the Russia–Ukraine conflict, shattering Europe’s post-Cold War security order and normalising sanctions warfare, proxy escalation and bloc politics. In West Asia, the Israel–Hamas war revealed the paralysis of international institutions and how unresolved conflicts could destabilise trade routes and energy flows. The long-simmering US–Iran confrontation also edged dangerously close to open conflict, keeping the region in a state of permanent escalation.
The US withdrawal from Afghanistan proved equally consequential, paving the way for the Taliban’s return. Pakistan saw renewed space for extremist groups amid political and economic turmoil, even as successive governments—under the shadow of a dominant military—deepened ties with China. In Bangladesh, the fall of Sheikh Hasina weakened state authority, allowing radical Islamist networks to regain space. Sri Lanka’s economic implosion exposed the fragility of debt-ridden states. Nepal drifted through weak, revolving coalitions, fuelling youth disillusionment that culminated in a Gen Z-led revolt. Myanmar’s 2021 coup spiralled into civil war, driving the Rohingya exodus—one of the world’s longest-running refugee crises.
By 2025, the world order was defined less by rules than by rupture: terror without borders, wars without resolution, and states struggling to contain forces they once believed had been subdued.