Editing Openai/69422be7-d6e0-8008-aef1-a42491fae402 (section)

==== 1. The Collapse of the Rules-Based International Order ====

The modern international system rests (imperfectly) on a few core ideas:
* State sovereignty
* Freedom of navigation
* Collective enforcement through international institutions, not unilateral force
* Proportionality and due process

If multiple countries began saying, “We judge your government immoral or criminal, therefore we will blockade your economy,” those norms would erode rapidly.

Result:
International law would be replaced by power politics—where the strongest navies, air forces, and economies impose their will, and weaker states have no protection at all.

This would resemble a return to 19th-century gunboat diplomacy, not a stable 21st-century order.