In unusually strong and apparently uncoordinated remarks, Emmanuel Macron and Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned the postwar rules-based international order could soon disintegrate. “The US is an established power, but one that is gradually turning away from some of its allies and breaking free from the very international rules that it was until recently promoting,” Macron told France’s diplomatic corps at the Élysée Palace on Thursday. “Multilateral institutions are functioning less and less effectively,” the French president said. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the erosion of the world order had already reached an advanced stage. There had been a “breakdown of values by our most important partner, the US, which helped build this world order”, said the president, whose role is largely ceremonial.

Source: Irish Examiner January 08, 2026 23:10 UTC