New World Order

Edit Warring Warning
This article has been the subject of repeated edit warring.
Although any user is encouraged to try to improve any article, edit wars started by anonymous IP’s or newly-registered users, or disagreeing by deleting, may result in their being blocked without warning.

The New World Order is a conspiracy theory that a powerful group is in control of the world, or on the verge of gaining such control.

Origin of the phrase

The phrase "New World Order" most likely first appeared in 1940, when it was the title of the book The New World Order by H.G. Wells. "New World Order" was also used that same year in an essay by occultist writer Alice Bailey which was included in her posthumously published 1957 compilation The Externalisation of the Heirarchy. To both Wells and Bailey the term meant a benevolent social democracy that would soon emerge. Conspiracy theorists however believe the term goes back earlier to Cecil Rhodes and Lionel Curtis circa 1909.

It's popularization among conspiracy theorists can be traced to over thirty years ago when "New World Order" appeared in the 1972 book None Dare Call It Conspiracy by Gary Allen, a John Birch Society writer. Allen claimed it to be the "code word" which the International Communist Conspiracy (tm) would use when they were ready to unveil their secret plans for a socialist world government. This book was widely read in right-wing conspiracy-minded circles during the 1970s and is probably the source of the hysteria that later erupted over the term.

The first high-profile use of "New World Order" by a politician was in a speech given by George H. W. Bush after the Cold War ended. In that speech, Bush was explaining that, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States and Russia would cooperate, rather than compete. All international relations experts agree that at that point, the old order of bilateralism had ended, and a new system was coming into place. The exact nature of the new system has been greatly debated over the years.

As outlined below, the meaning for conspiracy theorists went in a different direction.

Meaning for conspiracy theorists

The New World Order conspiracy started as an extension of old John Birch Society conspiracy theories about the role of the United Nations. This theory claimed that the United Nations was merely a tool of the Communists, and that the end goal was the complete subjugation of the United States to the United Nations. This would then set up a world government in which all of the freedoms that Americans hold dear would be abolished. Usually, top American officials were claimed to be in on the conspiracy.

As usual with conspiracy theories, there are many contradictory variations on the theory. The most popular variation used to maintain that international bankers (read: Jews) were pulling the strings in both the US and the USSR. Others of a more obvious racist bent claimed that Zionists were the ones responsible. As many conspiracy theorists also believe that the Jews are responsible for either the banks or Communism (or both), these three strands are often woven together into a completely ridiculous whole. Specifically, the Rothschilds are often accused of being among the masterminds.

Some versions of the theory are just reworkings of the old Illuminati conspiracy theory, in which a secret society is said to be working behind the scenes for world domination or some other nefarious purpose. Sometimes the Illuminati may be explicitly mentioned in these versions of the theory. Other versions will reference more recent groups of which the Trilateral Commission and the Bilderberg group (which, unlike the Illuminati, actually do exist) are commonly mentioned.

The conspiracy theory remained marginal until the 1990s, and the growth of the Internet. At that point, the theorists started to see Bill Clinton as the biggest pawn of the NWO. The events at both Ruby Ridge and Waco were considered part of the attempt to remove American liberties pursuant to an eventual takeover by either FEMA or the UN. During this era, the theory was most closely connected to certain paleoconservatives. Pat Robertson gave a boost to belief in the theory with his 1992 book The New World Order. Increasingly preposterous variations on the theory proliferated during the early-to-mid 1990s, such as allegation that mysterious fleets of black helicopters were being prepared for military occupation of the U.S.

Out of one, many

As is typical of many conspiracy theories, there is not one theory but several contradictory ones.

Because of the various contradictory theories it is a good idea to get a New World Order conspiracy theorist to explicitly state which particular "theory" he is backing. There are two reasons for this:

• Amateur conspiracy theorists are usually not very bright and frequently don't know much about their own theory, and consequently can't give a direct answer - only that there must be a conspiracy.
• In the event that the person does have a clear idea, you obviously must know which one it so as not to waste your time talking about another one.

NWO theories today

It is hard to imagine George W. Bush giving up American sovereignty to any organization, particularly the UN. In the most recent, more liberal version, instead of the UN taking sovereignty away from the US, the US (through the UN) plans to conquer the entire world. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are thus believed to be the first stages in that plan. In this version, it is the neocons who are the masters behind the NWO.

Evidence

Much of the imagined evidence for the theory rests on the symbolism found on various items, such as the Great Seal of the United States and other items on the US $1 bill, and their supposed connections with ancient symbols of evil or the Masons. Much is often made of the recurrence of 13, which is connected to the ancient witches' covens or the Masons. This, of course, neglects the importance of the 13 Colonies to the founders of the United States.

The lack of concrete evidence of plotting or of actions taken by the NWO is usually ascribed to the skill of the plotters in covering up such activities.

Criticism

The idea that the US, which is notoriously bad at keeping secrets, would be able to hide a conspiracy of this magnitude is simply absurd. When one further considers the current antipathy felt between some of the leaders of the UN and the US and you have a theory that really is laughable. The US and UN cannot even agree on any of the basic accords that come before the UN, with the US often either trying to push activities that the rest of the UN blocks or else the US blocks activities that the rest of the UN believes in.

In order to explain the above believers claim that the US deliberately humiliated itself by releasing its own secrets in an effort to give the impression that it can't keep them - and this is a cover for the real secrets which it can keep. A similar argument is made about the antipathy felt between the leaders of the UN and the US.

Yes, they seriously claim that all evidence to the contrary is disinformation. This means that the theory is impossible to falsify.

Also see

• Nude Whirled Odor (it exists, really!)

External links

• Infowars, a conspiracy theorist website about the New World Order.