The term New World Order has been used several times in recent history, referring to what appeared to be a dramatic change in world political thought and the balance of power.

While a similar phrase (Novus Ordo Seclorum, in fact a quotation from Vergil) appears in Latin on the back of the U.S. one dollar bill, the phrase "New World Order" was first widely used by Woodrow Wilson in the period just after World War I, during the formation of the League of Nations. The "war to end all wars" had been a powerful catalyst in international politics, and many felt the world could simply no longer operate as it once had. The term fell from use when it became clear the League was creating nothing of the sort, and was used very little during the formation of the United Nations. (Although some have claimed the phrase was not used at all, Virginia Gildersleeve , the sole female delegate to the San Francisco Conference in April of 1945, did use it in an interview with the New York Times).

More recently it was used for a while after the end of the Cold War by many people, notably former U.S. President George H. W. Bush. Many felt the end of the Cold War would have dramatic effects on the international balance of power, including the hope that the end of the Cold War would usher in a new era of international co-operation through the United Nations.

The term has developed pejorative meanings. Certain American right-wing groups such as the John Birch Society have long used the phrase to warn about the United Nations' emerging character as a world government. The left-wing may prefer to use it to promote an image of the United States as a bully which no longer has to answer to anyone, and which uses the situation to extend its influence. Thus, extension of the NATO pact to regions in eastern Europe, the Kosovo War, the war in Iraq, and isolation of small "unbending" nations are all seen as examples of this bullying attitude. The elder Bush's use of the term "New World Order" was picked up as a convenient catchphrase to symbolize this attitude.

Closely related terms, the "New International Economic Order" and the "New International Information Order" were popular in the United Nations and its specialized agencies (especially UNESCO) in the 1970s and 1980s. They were used mainly by developing country groups (e.g. the G-77, the Non-Aligned Movement) to refer to the redistribution of wealth on a global scale, and the international control of the media to stop the "defamation" of third world countries. Western countries attacked these plans as an attempt to destroy capitalism and freedom of speech; and they were quietly dropped in the 1980s after Western countries threatened to withdraw from United Nations bodies. (The U.S. and UK made good on this threat by withdrawing from UNESCO; both have since rejoined.)

See also

• Globalization
• NWO Conspiracy