The post-Cold War era has come to a close. For a quarter century, the absence of intense geopolitical conflict enabled a period of increased security, prosperity and cooperation. Today, however, rising geopolitical and transnational challenges have begun to reshape the international landscape, threatening to stall or reverse the gains of the post-Cold War era. As we enter this new period, the Order from Chaos project seeks to identify challenges to the U.S.-led international order and new policies to adapt and defend that system for the 21st century.
This initiative draws on all facets of Foreign Policy at Brookings through a variety of threads (books, monographs, and policy papers). Order from Chaos aims to shape and enhance the foreign policy debate in this new geopolitical world through:
- “Building ‘Situations of Strength’: A National Security Strategy for the United States”: A strategy report by the bipartisan Order from Chaos Task Force, which joined Brookings scholars Martin Indyk, Bruce Jones, Robert Kagan, and Thomas Wright with foreign and defense policy experts Derek Chollet, Eric Edelman, Michèle Flournoy, Stephen Hadley, Kristen Silverberg, and Jake Sullivan to chart a course for U.S. policy in an era of geopolitical rivalry.
- Key Leaders: A compilation of analyses of the critical men and women, both heads of state and non-state actors, whose actions will either reform or reject a revitalized international order.
- Competition in the Asia-Pacific: As tensions continue to rise in East Asia, Brookings’s Asia Working Group has convened scholars to examine multiple dimensions of security and economic policy in the region, with an aim to maintain the stability and prosperity that has prevailed since 1945.
- Rescuing Order in the Middle East: In a series of journal articles, Brookings scholars examine the confluence of factors that have contributed to the breakdown of the postwar order in the Middle East and assess how to restore a measure of security and to embark on governance reforms for a shattered region.
- Geoeconomics & Global Issues: While globalization has knit together nations into a web of interconnectivity, those bonds have created both benefits and vulnerabilities. Geoeconomics and Global Issues products explore how to manage the shared global threats while also navigating great powers’ use of economic statecraft.
- The Marshall Papers: Drawing on Brookings’s historic role in advising the creation and implementation of the Marshall Plan, the Marshall Papers monographs address a range of complex international challenges in a concise manner to offer concrete new policy proposals.
- Geopolitics in the 21st Century: In coordination with Brookings Press, this book series offers a platform for Brookings scholars to analyze the major dynamics at play and devise strategies around critical countries and key leaders on how preserve and renovate the international order for another generation.
- Order from Chaos Blog: Brookings’s “how-to guide for managing the end of the post-Cold War era” makes big policy ideas accessible with short, penetrating pieces on foreign affairs. The blog also often acts as home to scholars’ quick responses to events in a rapidly changing world.
The task before policymakers in the coming years is urgent and complex. Rivals are promoting contrasting visions for the future of the international order. In this period of transition, U.S. leadership will be critical. Order from Chaos will advance that discussion.