“The affirmative task we have now,” Biden said, “is to create a new world order, because the global order is changing again, and the institutions of the world worked so well in the post-World War II era for decades, they need to be strengthened, and some need to be changed.”
“So we have to do what we do best, we have to lead,” the vice president continued. “We have to update the global rules of the road, we have to do it in a way that maximizes benefits for everyone, because obviously, it’s overwhelmingly in our interests. This is not a zero sum game, it’s overwhelming our interest, that China prosper, that Mongolia prosper, that nations big and large, East and West (prosper). We have to level the playing field so that companies and workers can compete in the world, that the competition is fair and it’s healthy.”
Biden’s call for a “new world order” reflects what many politicians have said in the past. The phrase was used throughout the 20th century but entered the popular lexicon after President George H.W. Bush began to use it. After Iraq invaded Kuwait, Bush gave a speech to a joint session of Congress on Sept. 11, 1990, in which he said:
Halfway around the world, we are engaged in a great struggle, in the skies and on the seas and sands. We know why we’re there. We are Americans, part of something larger than ourselves. For two centuries, we’ve done the hard work of freedom, and tonight, we lead the world in facing down a threat to decency and humanity. What is at stake is more than one small country. It is a big idea, a new world order, where diverse nations are drawn together in common cause, to achieve the universal aspirations of mankind: peace and security, freedom and the rule of law. Such is a world worthy of our struggle and worthy of our children’s future.
Since Bush’s speech, many have come to believe that a plan for a global government is in place that will achieve this new world order. Many other politicians and global figures have called for a new world order, including Henry Kissinger and former U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
