The end of World War II 70 years ago ushered in a new World Order. It delegitimised the logic of imperial conquest for narrow national gain. It disenfranchised undemocratic forms of government, be they monarchies or fascist/stalinist regimes. It celebrated the commonality of human dignity and sloughed off the superficial respectability of racial and gender prejudice and stereotypes.

Economic, military, cultural and political co-operation was the mantra that would exorcise the desolation of the 1929 Wall Street collapse and the horror of the two World Wars that straddled it, of Somme, Auschwitz and Hiroshima.

Countries and continents came together to recognise rights that belonged to all humanity. This new collective energy brought about the United Nations, UNESCO, the Food and Agricultural Organisation, the World Health Organisation, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organisation, the European Economic Community and its counterparts in other continents. Participating countries bartered a portion of their individual sovereignty in return for collective security and prosperity.

Of course, this new Order did not bring about the end of all hardship and suffering. It did not exorcise greed or prejudice. Neither did it stop countries from pushing national and sectoral agendas at the expense of the common good. The new Order has given rise to new forms of domination such as through the rise of the multinationals, the McDonaldisation of cultures and values. It was (and is) accused of helplessness and worse in the face of the conflicts in the Middle East, Korea, Vietnam, Ruanda, the Balkans and so many others.

But many of these conflicts were the aftermath of the age of empire and colonialism, rooted in the complex injustices that wreaked their terrible consequences on both victims and perpetrators. The new Order fundamentally changed the definition of ‘normal’, of what people accepted and expected in terms of governance and political means and ends.

It ultimately led to the dissolution of communist imperialism and apartheid, the self-determination of countless peoples and the respect for the rights of minorities and the marginalised. It has led to global action to counter poverty, lack of education and environmental catastrophe. It is the vehicle for national and international efforts to counter the negative effects of globalisation.

These many positive outcomes have been the peace dividend of the new Order. And yet, today we face the real possibility that this dividend has been spent.

We may well be seeing a growing agnosticism to the foundational beliefs of the post-War new Order itself

The rise of anti-establishment populism embodied in the atavistic politics of the Duterte, Beppe Grillo, Le Pen, Farage, Putin, Trump and so many others around the world does not simply signal disengagement with the squalor and ineffectualness of ‘politics as usual’.

We may well be seeing a growing agnosticism to the foundational beliefs of the post-War new Order itself. The rule of law. The primacy of truth, political integrity and compassion, of shared values and prosperity over narrow nationalistic one-upmanship. The championing of peace to forestall the mutual annihilation of a nuclear armageddon.

We can no longer rely on the collective memory of the calvary of humanity due to the economic desolation and military horror of the first half of the 20th century to bring voters and leaders to their senses.

We enter 2017 with the threat of renewed nuclear proliferation courtesy of Messrs Putin and Trump, the balkanisation of world politics and a still-fragile world economy. Today, the World Day of Peace, all people of good will are called upon to do whatever it takes to remind their fellow world travellers that things could get much worse, and to work with them to make them much better.

12 naughty questions for 2017

And now for lesser and lighter things. This is my list of 12 questions, one for every month of 2017, for which I would very much like to know the answers in the coming year:

■ Will the scurrilous rumour that the label on Konrad Mizzi’s Panama hat reads ‘Made in China’ finally be denied?

■ Will we ever get to see Konrad Mizzi’s and

Keith Schembri’s audits? Or are they being done by the same firm doing Donald Trump’s tax returns? ?

■ Will Owen Bonnici manage to get Identity Malta and the Electoral Commission to kiss and make up?

■ Will we get to know how the money from the passports sold by government has been used?

■ Will Glenn Bedingfield keep commenting on the size of Daphne’s bottom? Really?

■ Will Daphne Caruana Galizia still insist on mentioning politicians’ kids in her blog?

■ Would Salvu Mallia remain a PN candidate if PBS were to offer him a juicy programme slot?

■ Can Mark Camilleri, the chairman of the National Book Council, please try to be slightly less nauseatingly sycophantic towards the Prime Minister?

■ Will Simon Busuttil manage not to contradict himself for a whole year?

■ Will Joseph Muscat manage to go through the year without a corruption scandal? Or at least a whole month?

■ Will Evarist Bartolo ever trust anyone ever again? Including his own boss?

■ Will President Coleiro Preca be able to hail a kinder, more welcoming, more tolerant nation in her next Republic Day speech? Will my hair grow back?