New World Order - Political
The term New World Order has been used several times in recent history, referring to what appeared to be a dramatic change in world political thought
and the balance of power.
While a similar phrase (Novus Ordo Seclorum, in fact a quotation from Vergil) appears in Latin on the back of the U.S. one dollar bill, the phrase
"New World Order" was first widely used by Woodrow Wilson in the period just after World War I, during the formation of the League of Nations. The
"war to end all wars" had been a powerful catalyst in international politics, and many felt the world could simply no longer operate as it once had.
The term fell from use when it became clear the League was creating nothing of the sort, and was used very little during the formation of the United
Nations. (Although some have claimed the phrase was not used at all, Virginia Gildersleeve, the sole female delegate to the San Francisco Conference
in April of 1945, did use it in an interview with the New York Times).
More recently it was used for a while after the end of the Cold War by many people, notably former U.S. President George H. W. Bush. Many felt the end
of the Cold War would have dramatic effects on the international balance of power, including the hope that the end of the Cold War would usher in a
new era of international co-operation through the United Nations.
The term has developed pejorative meanings. Certain American right-wing groups such as the John Birch Society have long used the phrase to warn about
the United Nations' emerging character as a world government. The left-wing may prefer to use it to promote an image of the United States as a bully
which no longer has to answer to anyone, and which uses the situation to extend its influence. Thus, extension of the NATO pact to regions in eastern
Europe, the Kosovo War, the war in Iraq, and isolation of small "unbending" nations are all seen as examples of this bullying attitude. The elder
Bush's use of the term "New World Order" was picked up as a convenient catchphrase to symbolize this attitude.
Closely related terms, the "New International Economic Order" and the "New International Information Order" were popular in the United Nations and
its specialized agencies (especially UNESCO) in the 1970s and 1980s. They were used mainly by developing country groups (e.g. the G-77, the
Non-Aligned Movement) to refer to the redistribution of wealth on a global scale, and the international control of the media to stop the
"defamation" of third world countries. Western countries attacked these plans as an attempt to destroy capitalism and freedom of speech; and they
were quietly dropped in the 1980s after Western countries threatened to withdraw from United Nations bodies. (The U.S. and UK made good on this threat
by withdrawing from UNESCO; both have since rejoined.)
New World Order - Conspiracy Theory
The term New World Order refers to a belief or conspiracy theory among apocalyptic religious and various political groups, especially in the United
States, that some powerful secret group has created a secret plan, known as the New World Order (NWO), to rule the world via a world government. The
belief may stem – at least partly – from the phrase New World Order, which has been used in politics for much of the Twentieth Century.
There are a number of different ideologies related to this belief; some groups are religiously motivated, and believe that the agents of Satan are
involved. There are others without a religious perspective on the matter, known as Illuminus. They operate outside of social, legal and political
restraint, gathering information and evidence on world events that are considered instigated by another group of illuminated individuals called the
Illuminati. While the Illuminati supposedly work behind the scenes to create conditions favorable to a New World Order, the illuminus gather evidence
and take direct action, influencing groups to prevent the New World Order attaining a foothold. These illuminus believe that the totalitarian society
has already arrived in a subtle form.
The understanding of these believers is that the NWO will be created by a military coup, using UN and American troops, against all the nations of the
world to bring about the One World Government.
Other perspectives on this matter relate to globalization and various intellectual movements evolved from Marxist "internationalist" ideology, such
as Social Democracy and Socialism, aiming to homogenize cultures and values by political normalization, as pointed out in the European Union's
gradual "communautarian construction" scheme of a common economic and legal framework for all countries. Some political groups, such as the Club of
Rome and the Socialist International (to which the French, British and German parliamentary Left-wing parties belong), openly advocate these goals.
Some predictions made by users of this term of events that will occur under the NWO include:
- The abolition of private property rights and gun ownership
- World-wide perequation under UN control
- All national and local elections controlled by the UN
- The US constitution replaced by the UN charter
- Only approved religions will be allowed to exist – as parts of the One World Religion, or alternatively mandatory secularism with all religions
made illegal
- Interdiction of politically incorrect opinions by UN laws and charters, such as statements deemed discriminatory, critical of minorities,
anti-feminist, anti-homosexual or illiberal
- Home schooling will be illegal and there will be a UN-approved curriculum
- Even more radical perspectives fear military bases will be turned into concentration camps to confine those who defy the NWO, as prisoners of
opinion.
Although the UN is often used as a central figure in these actions, sometimes Jews, Communists, extra-terrestrials – typically "The Greys"
– the Trilateral Commission, the Bilderberg Group, Freemasons, the Illuminati, and similar bodies are included in the conspiracy.
References
Robertson, Pat. (1991). The New World Order. Dallas: Word Publishing. ISBN 0-8499-3394-3 (pbk.)