Inside the surprising re-emergence of the 'New World Order’ conspiracy theory

Conspiracy theorists in the United States and around the world appear to have a new obsession: the "New World Order."

Ever since Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, politicians and political pundits on cable have tossed about the phrase while predicting that Vladimir Putin's war, however it concludes, has reshaped the geopolitical landscape. In their shorthand, that equates to the dawning of a "new world order."

As Vice News points out, President Joe Biden name-checked the “new world order” conspiracy in a mid-March to the Business Roundtable. “Now is a time when things are shifting,” Biden said when asked about the United States’ response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “There’s going to be a new world order out there, and we’ve got to lead it.”

The “New World Order” is solidly ensconced in American conspiracy theory culture. To those who believe, those three words represent a multitude of dystopian horrors, such as forced depopulation programs, a secretive ruling class of reptiles and “elite globalists” on a satanic mission to bring about the “end times.”

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References to the “New World Order” have been frequent on some of the large Telegram channels dedicated to the “freedom convoy” movement that started in Canada in January. “Ukraine falls, and it will, it is the end of the New World Order,” wrote someone on that Telegram channel. “Believe it or not, Putin is a white hat and working to take down satanists, corruption, bio weapons sites, and the New World Order,” wrote another. “Mainstream media is not your friend.” “Vladimir Putin is a traitor to the NWO!” someone else wrote in another convoy channel. “That's why we like him.”

At least one far-right U.S. politician appears to buy into the theory. Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers, who was censured by her colleagues for participating in a white nationalist conference, recently listed the names of people she believes are part of “one big happy New World Order club.” Her list, shared to Telegram on Tuesday, included top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, billionaire philanthropist and Holocaust survivor George Soros, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, Mark Zuckerberg, the Clintons, and the Bush family. She also called the European Union “New World Order tyranny.”