New World Order (conspiracy theory)

==Criticism==
[[File:Demonstrace na Václavském náměstí v Praze 2010-11-17 16.42.jpg|thumb|Anti-NWO demonstration in Prague, 2010]]
Skeptics of New World Order conspiracy theories accuse its proponents of indulging in the [[furtive fallacy]], a belief that significant facts of history are necessarily sinister; [[conspiracism]], a world view that centrally places conspiracy theories in the unfolding of history, rather than social and economic forces; and [[fusion paranoia]], a promiscuous absorption of fears from any source whatsoever.<ref name="Barkun 2003"/>

[[Marxism|Marxists]], who are skeptical of [[right-wing populism|right-wing populist]] conspiracy theories, also accuse the global power elite of not having the best interests of all at heart, and many intergovernmental organizations of suffering from a [[democratic deficit]], but they argue that the superclass are [[plutocracy|plutocrats]] only interested in brazenly imposing a [[neoliberalism|neoliberal]] or [[neoconservatism|neoconservative]] new world order—the implementation of [[global capitalism]] through [[hard power|economic and military coercion]] to protect the interests of [[transnational corporation]]s—which systematically undermines the possibility of [[international socialism]].<ref name="PLSweb.org 2010">{{cite web|author=Party for Socialism and Liberation|author-link=Party for Socialism and Liberation|date=1 September 2010|title=Daniel Estulin and the phony 'Bilderberg conspiracy'|url=http://www.pslweb.org/site/News2/2021559999?page=NewsArticle&id=14431&news_iv_ctrl=1261|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807131645/http://www2.pslweb.org/site/News2/2021559999?page=NewsArticle&id=14431&news_iv_ctrl=1261|archive-date=7 August 2011|access-date=7 October 2010}}</ref> Arguing that the world is in the middle of a transition from the [[American imperialism|American Empire]] to the rule of a global ruling class that has emerged from within the American Empire, they point out that right-wing populist conspiracy theorists, blinded by their [[anti-communism]], fail to see that what they demonize as the "New World Order" is, ironically, the highest stage of the very [[capitalism|capitalist]] economic system they defend.<ref name="PLSweb.org 2010" />

Domhoff, a research professor in psychology and sociology who studies theories of [[power (philosophy)|power]], wrote in 2005 an essay entitled ''There Are No Conspiracies''. He says that for this theory to be true, it required several "wealthy and highly educated people" to do things that don't "fit with what we know about power structures". Claims that this will happen go back decades and have always been proved wrong.

Partridge, a contributing editor to the global affairs magazine ''Diplomatic Courier'', wrote a 2008 article entitled ''One World Government: Conspiracy Theory or Inevitable Future?'' He says that if anything, nationalism, which is the opposite of a global government, is rising. He also says that attempts at creating global governments or global agreements "have been categorical failures" and where "supranational governance exist they are noted for their bureaucracy and inefficiency."

Although some cultural critics see [[conspiracy theory#Types|superconspiracy theories]] about a New World Order as "[[postmodernism|postmodern]] [[metanarrative]]s" that may be politically empowering, a way of giving ordinary people a narrative structure with which to question what they see around them,<ref name="Tyson and Kahn 2005">{{cite web|author=Lewis, Tyson |author2=Kahn, Richard |title=The Reptoid Hypothesis: Utopian and Dystopian Representational Motifs in David Icke's Alien Conspiracy Theory |date=2005 |url=http://richardkahn.org/writings/culturalstudies/reptoidhypothesis.pdf |access-date=4 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727215245/http://richardkahn.org/writings/culturalstudies/reptoidhypothesis.pdf |archive-date=27 July 2011 }}</ref> skeptics argue that conspiracism leads people into cynicism, convoluted thinking, and a tendency to feel it is hopeless even as they denounce the alleged conspirators.<ref name="New Internationalist 2 2004">{{cite journal| author=Berlet, Chip|title=Interview: G. William Domhoff|journal=[[New Internationalist]]|date=September 2004|url=http://www.publiceye.org/antisemitism/nw_domhoff.html|access-date=1 October 2009|author-link=Chip Berlet}}</ref>

Alexander Zaitchik from the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] wrote a report titled "'Patriot' Paranoia: A Look at the Top Ten Conspiracy Theories", in which he personally condemns such conspiracies as an effort of the radical right to undermine society.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2010/fall/patriot-paranoia|title='Patriot' Paranoia: A Look at the Top Ten Conspiracy Theories|work=Southern Poverty Law Center|access-date=2 April 2018|language=en}}</ref>

Concerned that the [[improvisational millennialism]] of most conspiracy theories about a New World Order might motivate [[lone wolf (terrorism)|lone wolves]] to engage in [[leaderless resistance]] leading to [[Domestic terrorism in the United States|domestic terrorist incidents]] like the [[Oklahoma City bombing]],<ref name="Boyer 2004">{{cite web|author=Boyer, Paul S.|title=The Strange World of Conspiracy Theories|date=27 July 2004|url=http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=3075|access-date=1 October 2009|author-link=Paul S. Boyer|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310080017/http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=3075|archive-date=10 March 2013}}</ref> Barkun writes that  "the danger lies less in such beliefs themselves ... than in the behavior they might stimulate or justify" and warns "should they believe that the prophesied evil day had in fact arrived, their behavior would become far more difficult to predict."

Warning of the threat to American democracy posed by [[right-wing populism|right-wing populist]] movements led by [[demagogy|demagogues]] who mobilize support for [[ochlocracy|mob rule]] or even a [[fascism|fascist]] revolution by exploiting the fear of conspiracies, Berlet writes that "Right-wing populist movements can cause serious damage to a society because they often popularize xenophobia, authoritarianism, scapegoating, and conspiracism. This can lure mainstream politicians to adopt these themes to attract voters, legitimize acts of discrimination (or even violence), and open the door for revolutionary right-wing populist movements, such as fascism, to recruit from the reformist populist movements."

Hughes, a professor of religion, warns that no religious idea has greater potential for shaping global politics in profoundly negative ways than "the new world order". He writes in a February 2011 article entitled ''Revelation, Revolutions, and the Tyrannical New World Order'' that "the crucial piece of this puzzle is the identity of the Antichrist, the tyrannical figure who both leads and inspires the new world order". This has in turn been the Soviet Union and the Arab world. He says that inspires believers to "welcome war with the Islamic world" and opens the door to nuclear holocaust."

Criticisms of New World Order conspiracy theorists also come from within their own community. Despite believing themselves to be "[[freedom fighter]]s", many right-wing populist conspiracy theorists hold views that are incompatible with their professed [[libertarianism]], such as [[Dominion theology|Christian dominionism]], [[authoritarianism|authoritarian]] [[ultranationalism]], [[white supremacy]] and [[eliminationism]].<ref name="Berlet 1999"/> This paradox has led [[David Icke|Icke]], who argues that [[Christian Patriot movement|Christian Patriots]] are the only Americans who understand the truth about the New World Order (which he believes is controlled by a race of [[Reptilian humanoid|reptilians]] known as the "Babylonian Brotherhood"), to reportedly tell a Christian Patriot group, "I don't know which I dislike more, the world controlled by the Brotherhood or the one you want to replace it with."{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}
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