The Rules-Based International Order Collapsed. Can Pashinyan Adapt to Laws Of the Jungle or Donroe Doctrine?

Noubar Serabian

Since 24 October 1945, the day the birth of the United Nations was announced with great fanfare, humanity adopted the self-deluding notion that the world has become a better place, the rule of law will reign supreme, and violence will be rejected in favor of civilized forms of negotiations and compromises that will end bloody military campaigns, and humanity will live happily ever after.

The sophisticated game of self-deception adopted by all the countries who joined the UN since 1945, refused to acknowledge that the architects of the UN created a dog that has a faint bark but no teeth to bite.

The most poignant failure of the organization called the UN materialized in June 1994.

A military expedition brandishing the UN flag was entrusted with the key task of preventing a bloody conflict in Rwanda. Paralyzed by all kind of political intrigues, the UN expedition in Rwanda, officially known as UNAMIR, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Rwanda, under the command of Canadian General Romeo Dallaire, failed dismally in containing the atrocities that paved the way for what was eventually classified in the pages of contemporary history as “The Rwandan Genocide.”

Between April 1994 and the end of the violence in June 1994, a million Rwandans lost their lives, simply because “Civilized Countries”, all of them members of the UN refused to go beyond lip service and crocodile tears, to clear the political obstacles preventing Gen. Dallaire from taking any meaningful steps to contain the violence that engulfed Rwanda.

In apologizing for the UN’s lack of action, several years later (2004), Secretary General Kofi Annan said “The genocide in Rwanda should never, ever have happened. But it did. The international community failed Rwanda, and that must leave us always with a sense of bitter regret and abiding sorrow.”

Since early January 2026, two leaders (Trump, Aliyev) with deeds and/or words shocked the world to underline to the inhabitants of the planet the total erosion of what is left of the rules-based international order, to elevate the status of the LAW OF THE JUNGLE, and insist that henceforth it will dominate international politics, and strong countries will do “Whatever It Takes” to safeguard their national interests, from invading other countries and controlling their natural resources, to targeted assassinations, to inciting revolutions and decapitation of key political figures of a regime.

President Trump insisted that he does not give a hoot about the moral condemnations of his political/military venture in Venezuela, even if it is blatant violation of international law. Trump argued that he is the ultimate judge of what should be considered a morally reprehensible act. He pointed out to a reporter for The New York Times, that the only obstacle preventing him from launching military campaigns or covert operations against any country “is my own morality. My own mind.”

Trump also emphasized to the media that his ambitions to acquire new territories does not end, and will not remain confined to the borders of Venezuela. Greenland is next on his list of new acquisitions destined to “Make America Great Again.” Trump basically killed the “Monroe Doctrine” and replaced it with an over ambitious alternative called the “Donroe Doctrine”, often described as Donald’s attempt to contain the creeping Chinese and Russian influence all over the world.

In a clear sign of solidarity with Trump’s territorial expansionism, Maga influencer Katie Miller – the wife of Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Stephen Miller – released a map of Greenland covered with the colours of the US flag. Stephen Miller himself asserted to CNN’s Jake Tapper that “…we live in a world, in the real world … that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power. These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time.”

And Mr. Miller is not wrong in his vehement insistence that the world has been governed, since the beginning of time by STRENGTH, FORCE, and POWER. All we have to do is revisit the writings of the Greek General and historian Thucydides, who elaborated to us in his account of the Peloponnesian War (416 BC), the key principles of “Real Politik”;

– “The strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must.” A crystal clear argument that in politics, power dictates the standards of morality and power is not interested in justice. This statement encapsulates the political realism that ruled the world almost 2500 years ago. It highlights the harsh reality of unequal power dynamics where the strong State acts on self-interest, and the weak State has little choice but to submit or face severe consequences ranging from blockades to starve a population, to “Ethnic Cleansing”, to outright “Genocide” to exterminate a weak nation.

– Thucydides highlighted also in his writings that “Right, as the world goes, is only a question between equals in power,” simply to remind us that morality doesn’t apply to conflicts between unequal actors. Weak States should never evoke principles of “Justice” if they cannot defend justice with the power of arms. In other words, no matter how valid and just is a cause, “Power” will inevitably override “Justice.” In power struggles evolving in the international arena MIGHT will always destroy RIGHT, thus making MIGHT the cornerstone of political realism, justifying state behavior through self-interest and brute force, rather than adhesion to principles of moral and ethical behavior.

Aliyev too, like Trump, did not mince words. In an interview conducted on January 5, 2026 by Azeri TV channels and media outlets he argued that;

– “I even said in my New Year’s address to the people of Azerbaijan that today’s world is like this: might is right.”

– “…there is no such thing as international law in today’s world. Everyone should forget about that. There is strength, there is cooperation, there is alliance, there is mutual support.”

– Therefore, despite this, you must have military power so that no one looks down on you, so that no one harms you. No one should even think of harming you and getting away with that.

– The United Nations – these are all rudiments; they are so outdated that clinging to them would simply be absent-minded, and anyone who clings to them is simply living in an outdated reality.

– “…that there is a real Armenia with its own borders, and until we recognize these borders, these borders don’t exist. If you remember, in order to encourage them to do this at the time, I said that the border would pass where we deemed it necessary.

Aliyev’s views of the international order and the critical role of brute force were not new. In 2026, he simply reiterated with minor variations the key points he peddled in January 2025;

“Over the past 10-15 years, I have repeatedly noted in my speeches that international law does not work in the world. These mechanisms are used only for weak countries. Major powers [Club of Five in the UN Security Council- The US, The UK, Russia, France, China] ignore international law. It is as if the laws are not written for them. In that case, the countries that demand justice, which rightfully demand it, must themselves ensure that justice. Guided by this very principle, we have actively worked in recent years and restored justice ourselves.” Restoring justice is a euphemism used by Aliyev to depict the “Ethnic Cleansing” of Artsakh.

Unfortunately, since November 2020, Aliyev has succeeded in his military campaigns to restore “Justice”, based on his own definition of what justice should be, not because of the debatable military might of his army, but simply because he had, and still has, a “Willful Enabler” currently in charge of The Office of The Prime Minister of Armenia. The willful enabler is Nikol Pashinyan. A “Manchurian Candidate” who sold on a silver platter Artsakh to Aliyev back in October 2022, and gifted more than 200 Sq Km of Armenian sovereign territory to Aliyev, by insisting that the borders of Armenia are “Provisional” and all options are on the bargaining table. According to Pashinyan, there was no point in resisting Aliyev’s conquest of dozens of strategic heights deep inside Armenia, simply because the heights at stake are covered with snow more than six months of a year, and Armenians should not fight for lands that are inaccessible due to harsh weather conditions during the winter season.

In a moment of “Selective Amnesia”, Pashinyan conveniently forgot to mention to the Armenian nation that the Azeri Army is not strictly sitting on isolated mountain tops located in Armenia, and since May 2021, the Azerbaijani Army has controlled strategic heights located less than 100 meters from Kapan’s Airport. For readers who are not familiar with the geography of Armenia, Kapan is a city in Southeast Armenia considered the provincial capital of Syunik. The Azeri border is approximately 40Km away from the city. Pashinyan is not overly concerned with the presence of the Azeri Army deep inside Armenian sovereign territory. He is convinced that his “Collaborationist Enemy-Appeasing” government can convince Azerbaijan’s Petro-Dictator to conform with international laws and return to Armenia what rightfully belongs to Armenians.

Currently, Pashinyan is pursuing a “Peace Treaty” with a “Petro-Dictator” who is systematically reminding him that “Armenia’s borders do not exist. I decide where Armenia’s borders start and end.”

In order to fool his nation with the Delimitation-Demarcation process initiated a couple of years ago, Pashinyan is insisting that he is not selling the land piece by piece to the enemy. He is simply returning to Azerbaijan territories that fell under the control of the Armenian Armed Forces during the First Artsakh War (1989-1994).

Do you want an “Enemy-Appeasing Collaborationist” Armenian government, under the leadership of Nikol Pashinyan, to remain in power beyond the elections of June 2026?

Remember who Pashinyan is;

“…a man ignorant of the law, well-nigh an enemy to his people’s advantage, while intent on his personal convenience, a dedicated voluptuary, a hater of learning, freedom and truth, without a thought for the interests of his country, and measuring everything in terms of his own profit and desires.“ [Desiderius Erasmus]

Now, do you understand why Armenian academics labelled him as the “Loyal servant of the interests of Ankara and Baku, and also the humble enabler of “The Greater Turan” dream (Pan-Turkism).”