The Perilous Reframing of Power

We are living at a political turning point whose consequences reach far beyond any single country. The last elections in the United States, and the popular endorsement of an agenda rooted in right-wing religious conservatism, marked more than a routine change in leadership. It signalled a deeper rupture in how power, belonging, and vulnerability are understood. A political vision once considered fringe has moved decisively into the centre of global influence. What is unfolding is not merely a US domestic shift, but a global one that is reshaping norms, institutions, and the language through which injustice is and isn’t recognised and named. This moment matters because it consolidates trends that have been steadily gaining ground: the return of authoritarian and colonial power logics, the erosion of the liberal world order, the selective application of international law, and the growing contestation of democratic norms. When powerful states model selective legality, disdain for multilateralism, and contempt for equality, they signal that an erosion or denial of democracy carries few consequences.