Santhoshraja V
As the world races through 2026, the societies of the post-Cold War era are cracking under the weight of humiliations, unbroken tensions, and shifting power dynamics. The new wave of Jeffrey Epstein files demonstrates the decay in world leadership, and the conflict in Ukraine and the unrest in the Middle East have forced a reshaping of alliances and maps. Among this chaos, Russia and China emerge as architects of a multipolar vision, challenging the West. India moves in the shadow of this global power race with its own problems. This merging of elite humiliations, widespread conflict, and the rise of a Sino-Russian axis is speeding up the uncertain transition toward a new, more shattered global order.
Epstein’s Elite Expose
The Justice Department’s under Epstein Files Transparency Act releases 3.5 million pages, 180,000 images, and 2,000 videos from the Epstein files signed by Trump, sending shockwaves through power corridors and unmasking top leaders of the world like Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Richard Branson, and even Trump himself, who had ties with the convicted sex offender. These disclosures have ignited political flames worldwide, worn down public faith in institutions and highlighted how wealth and influence shield the powerful from accountability. These files show the unmasked face of business/ political giants who used Epstein’s crimes for personal advantage in politics, finance, tech and the sports fields. Slip-ups in victim names mentioned in the files sparked the privacy issues, but Bill & Hillary Clinton’s agreement highlights the outrage over American politics.
Overseas, Britain’s former Labour politician Peter Mandelson’s powerful connection to Epstein has concerned Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who appointed him as U.S. ambassador even with prior knowledge. Last year, Mandelson’s elimination has now fuelled the catastrophe. The UK’s Wall Street Journal reports the elimination by describing it as a blow to the “upper echelons of the British establishment”. The crash under the Epstein files surpasses borders and has led European leaders to inquire. The files put a “spotlight on prominent names” and deepened vagueness about why leaders like Clinton and Trump severed after Epstein’s downfall.
Social media rebounds this cynicism; one viral post dirge, “To the people at the very top, we aren’t really people... We’re livestock”. Some call it “the outing of the supremacy secret”, increasing global cynicism. As expectations on leaders fall, these surprises increase the speed of searching for the new order, which might finally spear the curtain of privilege.
Wars’ Fiery Forge
Conflict ruins the brutal incus shaping tomorrow’s world. In 2026, wars explode from Europe’s frozen fronts to African deserts, challenging agreements and humanitarian constraints. The Russia-Ukraine war, starting its fourth year, illustrates that the use of Russian missiles, including Zircon and cruise missiles, has distressed Ukrainian energy infrastructure, leaving capitals like Kyiv and Kharkiv in embargoes amid winter’s bite. Yet for diplomatic talks under the U.S., which took place, results on prisoner swap of over 314 captives, though broader advancement stands down. As the top Russian general’s gunfire in Moscow, attributed to Ukraine’s worsening distrust.
The Middle East rumbles hazardously because of the U.S.-Iran tensions drawn with secondary talks in Oman resuming from cancellations by Iran’s deployment of Khorramshahr-4 hypersonic missile, which can travel over 2,000 km. Since the U.S. forces dismantled Iranian drones near its carriers, six gunboats of the IRGC chased and fired at the U.S tanker in the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation. On the other hand, Israel’s conflicts continue by escalating its attacks in the West Bank and Gaza because of the Palestinians’ settlement expansions, fueling broader unrest over instability. While the Russian Council on Foreign Relations warns of high-impact possibilities of Russia-NATO clashes or Taiwan-China in the eastern flank. Africa’s Sudan Rapid Support Forces carnage in Darfur genocide, with 71,000 deaths, creates fear. While jihadists block Mali’s capital, signalling government weakness in the Sahel. Myanmar’s civil war, Haiti’s gang clashes, and Venezuela’s turmoil under U.S. strikes on criminal clusters increase layers. Saif al-Islam Gaddafi’s assassination plunged Libya into chaos.
Globally, armed conflicts flow, pushing humanitarian law to the edge as civilians bear the brunt, while drones target civilians in Ukraine, Ethiopia and Yemen with massacres. These conflicts not only reframe new borders but also establish new pacts, along with U.S. military interests and Trump’s New START nuclear treaty expiries soon. In this fiery forge, the world’s old order melts away.
Sino-Russian Power Pivot
China and Russia stand as pillars of an emerging new multipolar framework, with their alliance as a counterbalance towards the West. President Xi and Putin’s video-conference on February 4 underlined coordinated diplomacy to balance international instability and committed to “maintaining global order”, with cooperation under the principles of the UN, not with U.S. led unilateralism, before calling Trump. China views Russia’s war with Ukraine as a test of order-making for international stability by ordering power balances with sovereignty norms. Bilateral ties will continue in 2026, despite U.S. alliance breaks like intercontinental quarrels. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) 2025 summit helps to develop Xi’s vision, with Putin and Modi pushing a “new global order” by favoring the Global South, using national currencies to bypass Western sanctions.
Nuclear diplomacy highlights their unity:
Post and New START treaty urges U.S.-Russia meetings, whereas denying attachment in constraints, indicating risks to global stability. China’s elimination of General Zhang Youxia indicates internal shifts simplifies its strategic focus on Russian ties. Besides, North Korea joined this alignment to create a Northeast Asian front to pressure the U.S.-led bloc. Hence, this “illiberal international” changes the format of global norms, making Russia and China’s pivot to accelerate the quest for an amalgamated, complex new global order.
Order’s Uncertain Dawn
In 2026, the Epstein humiliation’s corrosion of elite trust, wars’ ruthless toll, and Russia-China’s assertive counterforce come together to strip down the old-world order by replacing it with a stable new world order that may take generations to blend multipolarity with combined governance. Opportunities thrive because diplomatic developments in Ukraine and Iran could pave the way for peace. Yet the question remains: will humanity seize them, or descend deeper into disorder?
The author is a Research Scholar in the Centre for South East Asian Studies, Nagaland University, specialised in the area of contemporary wars of UDA, Indo-Pacific Region and South China Sea.
