{"id":695110,"date":"2026-10-29T17:36:31","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T17:36:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=695110"},"modified":"2026-10-29T17:36:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T17:36:31","slug":"the-wests-international-order-is-on-borrowed-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=695110","title":{"rendered":"The West&#8217;s International Order Is On Borrowed Time"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"size-large aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/cdm.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/arkansas-levee-breach-1927.jpg\" alt=\"Arkansas levee breach during the Great Mississippi Flood, April 1927\" class=\"wp-image-117769\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Arkansas levee breach during the Great Mississippi Flood, April 1927. Photo: National Archives<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Please follow us on <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@CDM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Truth Social<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CDM_PRESS\">X<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@CDMTVPRESS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">YouTube<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.minds.com\/LToddWood\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Minds<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/CreativeDestructionMedia\">Telegram<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/rumble.com\/c\/CDM1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rumble<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/gettr.com\/user\/cdm__\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">GETTR<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/gab.com\/CDM_\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gab<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/cdm_press\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the more tiresome phrases one hears bandied about is usually a variation on one of these generally interchangeable themes:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The International Rules Based Order<\/li>\n<li>Liberal International Order<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is all on borrowed time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was a vision of what was once the center-right and center-left who wanted to create a different, more humane world. Its triumph and high water mark was victory in the Cold War, but then it lost its way once the 68\u2019ers (<em>typified by Bill Clinton in the U.S. and Tony Blair in the UK, along with their fellow travelers in other Western nations<\/em>) took power.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a series of feel-goodism project from open-borders to unchecked social spending, they eventually degraded themselves into cronyism, sectarianism, and corruption.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Financially unsustainable and intellectually spent, its sputtering death rattles are there for all to see.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What comes next, I don\u2019t know\u2014but we\u2019re not going to like it parts of it. How much of the Old Order remains will vary from country to country, but the hangover of the errors of the last six decades will not be easy to fix without some very\u2014from a late 20th century perspective\u2014illiberal actions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Don\u2019t get me wrong, I am a fan of what was attempted after WWII, but it was only effective for a quarter century or so. It had enough momentum to coast and drift another quarter century, then it started to eat itself by those who didn\u2019t remember why it existed and what it was supposed to do. I wish the best parts of it could last forever, but our inheritance was mortgaged and can\u2019t be paid back. That is what will lead the reset as we move into mid-century.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is that simple. The math is what it is.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Across the West and the non-Western developed nations there is a similar problem. The first ingredient is one they all share, but the West has a second accelerant that is especially dangerous. We\u2019ll get to that in a second, but let\u2019s look at the first.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All the economic models we\u2019ve developed, in peace and war, since Adam Smith were based on a few assumptions, one of which was a proper demographic pyramid. Lots of young people coming up to take a productive role in society, advance civilization, and\u2014in the last hundred years of the modern welfare state\u2014help fund a growing government that cares for those who cannot care for themselves.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the West, the U.S. has one of the healthiest demographic profiles. Not great, but in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Give the chart below a look, especially at 1926 during the Roaring Twenties, and again in 1965 with LBJ\u2019s Great Society kickofff.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the last couple of weeks, we\u2019ve all been watching the cities in Europe\u2014especially in France\u2014burn. She\u2019s not alone. Significant leftist riots have been seen in Italy and Belgium. In spite of their decades-old welfare states, the masses claim not to have enough.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The gravy train is over, but no one wants to admit it. The Western Welfare State is running on inertia and political cowardice at this point, right up until the bondholders close their wallets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yes, I include the U.S. in this, but we won\u2019t see the collapse first. That will happen in Europe, and when the break comes, it will make the events of the last month seem like <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Q7HKMtGizLg?si=BBQCasbhFAZZadKZ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">an event hosted by the Daughters of the American Revolution<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is baked into the cake. The tens of millions of unskilled, unassimilated, and unemployable illegal migrants living off national treasuries to which they have never contributed are just another accelerant to the conflagration that is coming.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the sake of brevity, let\u2019s take one of our Western allies, Italy, as an example.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As we showed the relatively healthy American demographics earlier, let\u2019s look at the Italian one, over a shorter period.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What is coming down the tracks for Italy and most of the West?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These are the good old days.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is a good datapoint by Ani Chkhikvadze in the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> titled <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/4780091\/italians-are-taking-to-the-streets-but-are-they-honest-about-the-problem-gdp\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Italians are taking to the streets, but are they honest about the problem<\/a><\/em>?<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>After decades beneath the American security umbrella, many Italians came to enjoy the luxury of regarding war as somebody else\u2019s concern. That bargain made possible generous welfare commitments. Even with war raging in Ukraine and Russia conducting terrorist attacks across Europe, many Italians still feel the threat is distant.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m here because I\u2019m anti-war,\u201d said one protester. \u201cThe government puts a lot of money in armament and in war, but we are dying poor and nobody is doing anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>These claims deserve closer scrutiny.<\/p>\n<p>In Italy, pensions, healthcare, and social protection absorb about 56% of all public spending, roughly 28% of GDP. It\u2019s the third-highest allocation of any European Union nation. Pensions dominate the bill at about 16% of GDP, the second-highest share in the EU after Greece. In contrast, defense spending sits at roughly 2% of GDP, but far lower than the U.S. and other NATO allies would like to see. Moreover, Italy has only reached this level by counting security spending as part of its armed forces total.<\/p>\n<p>But the basic problem is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/in_focus\/4770193\/why-france-will-keep-burning\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the same as that afflicting France<\/a>. Namely, that with debt approaching 140% of GDP, Italy needs to cut spending, or cut spending and raise taxes. Demographics also matter here.<\/p>\n<p>Young Italians have good reason to feel disadvantaged by a system that devotes far more to pensions than to education, which receives roughly 4% of GDP. These outlays will only increase as Italy\u2019s population continues to age rapidly. Rising rents and everyday expenses make life harder, even for those with jobs. But another state subsidy won\u2019t solve the issue. The real answer is to leave more money in people\u2019s pockets by cutting spending and taxes, and by removing heavy barriers to building homes and creating jobs.<\/p>\n<p>Italy knows where irresponsible fiscal management leads.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What are their political options?<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Unlike her predecessors, Meloni has done a good job cutting back some of that expenditure and steering the budget toward balance, and ratings agencies have taken note. But rising fuel prices and protests by truck drivers, shop owners, and fishermen in the south are testing that discipline, bringing pressure from small-business owners her coalition counts among its voters.<\/p>\n<p>Whether discontent ultimately costs Meloni power remains uncertain. On the Left, Elly Schlein\u2019s Democratic Party and Giuseppe Conte\u2019s Five-Star Movement struggle to form a coherent alternative. On Meloni\u2019s far-right, former general Roberto Vannacci\u2019s radical Futuro Nazionale competes for conservative voters. There is plenty of competition to channel Italy\u2019s unhappiness.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meloni is the moderate option. The left is small, but incredibly active and violent. The \u2018normies\u2019 just want order and, in a way, the effective welfare state they have always been promised\u2014but will never be able to afford once the borrowing stops\u2014an effective welfare state.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is no rich and fat U.S.A. that will be able to come to the rescue. The PRC will have problems of its own and, if anything, will offer only temporary help in exchange for permanent vassalage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The wheels will come off Europe first.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the largest barriers to stopping the inevitable is the European Union (EU) and the European Commission on Human Rights (ECHR).<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Their ruling center-right and center-left nomenklatura created this crisis; they won\u2019t be able to arrest it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The EU and ECHR\u2014as they exist and function today\u2014are largely responsible for the masses of migrants who are heavy weights around the ankles of European leaders trying to navigate the coming train wreck. The money spent on the migrant masses no one invited will have to be the first thing to go once <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/GiAsc3L3Tl0?si=R4dm_XvjTQxF_shh\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the levee breaks<\/a>. There is growing talk of action, but for now it is only talk. When action does take place, how do you think these masses and their allies will react?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the ballot box and through \u2018vibrancy\u2019 in the streets, the left relies on unassimilated migrants of the first, second, and third generations of unassimilated migrants as the shock troops of their Red-Green-Green alliance of traditional leftists, neo-pagan environmentalists, and Islamic supremacists seeking power.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They need a flag. Here, I have one for them. They\u2019ll like the construction with the communist red, environmentalist green, and Islamic green. Must credit Salamander.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"size-large aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1168\" height=\"784\" src=\"https:\/\/cdm.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/salamander-rgg-flag.jpg\" alt=\"Red, green, and green flag\" class=\"wp-image-117770\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Must credit Salamander.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That is what you are seeing in the streets from Paris to Milan: a test drive of the RGG Alliance in case the normies decide to vote for someone else but them to address the problem.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is good, in a way, that most of the West\u2019s enemies\u2014China and Russia\u2014have worse problems from a demographic and debt perspective. But the accelerant to disorder, and the inability of the ruling powers to stop it, are Western problems that make what is to come unavoidable\u2014and worse than anyone would have imagined at the turn of the century.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Originally published at <a href=\"https:\/\/cdrsalamander.substack.com\/p\/the-wests-international-order-is\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CDR Salamander<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/my.cdm.press\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>&#8216;NO AD&#8217; subscription for CDM!  Sign up here and support real investigative journalism and help save the republic!<\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdm.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/arkansas-levee-breach-1927.jpg\" title=\"The West&apos;s International Order Is On Borrowed Time\" \/><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arkansas levee breach during the Great Mississippi Flood, April 1927. Photo: National Archives Please follow us on Truth Social, X, YouTube, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, GETTR, Gab, Instagram One of the more tiresome phrases one hears bandied about is usually a variation on one of these generally interchangeable themes: The International Rules Based Order Liberal International&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=695110\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The West&#8217;s International Order Is On Borrowed Time<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,22,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-695110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-border-security","category-immigration","category-immigration-reform","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=695110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695110\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=695110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=695110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=695110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}