The US and the erosion of order: law, power and a new authoritarianism

By Lady Olga Maitland, 14 June 2025

The rise of a new authoritarianism—and the unravelling of the old rules-based order—is becoming impossible to ignore.

I joined a panel at a Conference on Energy Arbitration and Dispute Resolution, hosted by Herbert Smith Freehills recently. A fellow panelist remarked: “The world order has shifted—and with it, respect for the rule of law.” The consequences are clear: a surge in disputes as governments and private entities clash, laws are rewritten retroactively, and contracts are reinterpreted on political whims. Even the most compliant companies are not immune; arbitrary state intervention can turn them into collateral damage. Unsurprisingly, arbitration lawyers have never been busier.

In the United States, the pressure is spreading beyond commerce. Universities, once bastions of independence, now face escalating coercion from the Trump administration. Those that resist MAGA-aligned policies risk losing federal funding—a death knell for all but the wealthiest institutions. A Midwestern professor confided: “I weigh every word I write on a university email. We speak in whispers now. One misstep, and I could be dismissed without explanation—let alone recourse.” 

Meanwhile, Middle Eastern students vanish from campuses as visas are abruptly revoked.

The message is unmistakable: the tools of power are being wielded with little regard for precedent or restraint. And as norms erode, so too does predictability—the bedrock of both law and commerce.