The Rules of the World Have Not Changed – They No Longer Exist

By Mika Horelli, Brussels

As a child, I spent many summers in the Vaasa archipelago on Finland’s west coast, at my grandmother’s summer house, where our family would gather to enjoy the season together. Playing cards was one of our favourite pastimes with my siblings, cousins and me. There were many games, but one stood out: fusku, in English, "cheat". The game idea was simple yet fascinating – the rules were constantly broken. However, the game’s defining feature was that everyone knew the rules were being broken and accepted it as part of the fun. The essence of fusku was competing to see who could cheat the most skillfully without getting caught.

Now, decades later, as I follow world politics, we are in the midst of a global game of fusku. The only difference is that not everyone has yet realised that the rules are being broken—or is unwilling to admit it.

Russia has turned rewriting history into a political weapon, using it to justify its president’s whims and obsessions. Simultaneously, in the United States, under Donald Trump, politics has become a game in which laws, rules, and agreements are nothing more than tools to embarrass opponents. Citing agreements is a sign of weakness, and honesty marks naive gullibility. For Putin and Trump, international laws and commitments are obstacles, not principles.

This phenomenon is not limited to these two figures. China upholds rules only when they serve Beijing’s strategic interests. The European Union boasts grand rhetoric about the rule of law, cooperation, and a rules-based international order. Still, each member state pursues its interests behind the scenes and plays its own game. Hypocrisy is nothing new, but it has become so blatant that it is increasingly difficult to conceal.

The greatest danger of fusku is that if everyone accepts the game’s lawlessness, the system will eventually collapse because it is impossible to implement. When each country interprets international agreements differently, the deal loses its significance.

This trend is evident in the World Trade Organization (WTO), where great powers follow the rules only when it suits them. International courts have lost their authority because the worst offenders no longer comply with their rulings. The United Nations Security Council has been a toothless institution for decades, and its permanent members’ veto power effectively neuters it.

Another example of the erosion of the rules-based world is the diminishing significance of international refugee agreements. These agreements, created after World War II to protect the most vulnerable, are now openly disregarded across Europe. Countries no longer uphold their obligations but develop new methods to prevent asylum seekers from entering their territories or shifting responsibility to others. Respect for human rights has become a rhetorical facade, while in reality, governments actively seek loopholes and justifications for violating their commitments.

Amidst all this, Western nations continue to repeat the mantra that the rules are still in place and the international order remains intact. But what is the value of rules that are no longer followed? What is the significance of agreements that can be broken without consequences? The problem is not just the audacity of the great powers – it is also the naivety of those nations that still believe they can play pretty while sitting at a table full of cheaters.

The world has become a game of fusku, where honesty is a strategic disadvantage and deceit a competitive advantage. The most significant question of our time is not how to make everyone follow the rules but how to play this game without losing. Is it better to cling to honesty, even if it means perpetual defeat, or is the only option to learn the rules of fusku – or rather, their absence?

Ultimately, the question is whether we want to live in a world without rules or are willing to defend them—even if it means making uncomfortable and difficult choices. If the game continues like this, it is only a matter of time before everyone realises that the issue is not that the rules have changed—they simply no longer exist.

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