A "Groatian Moment"

I'd say "Old Europe" was right all along.
Before the name of a blog obscures a symbolic term from legal history, lets visit A Grotian Moment in foreign policy.

A "Grotian Moment" is a legal development that is so significant that it can create new customary international law or radically transform the interpretation of treaty-based law.

Hugo Grotius (Huig de Groot, or Hugo de Groot; Delft, 10 April 1583 – Rostock, 28 August 1645) worked as a jurist in the Dutch Republic and laid the foundations for international law, based on natural law.

From an article on AlterNet, the writer talks about the historical significance of the end of the cold war, our allies concieved of a "New World Order" created by globalization.

After the cold war ended, the world faced a "Grotian moment" -- the end of an era in international politics brought an opportunity to pause and consider the fundamental assumptions underlying the international system. The consensus among our allies -- and our strategic class at the time -- was that we should develop a "New World Order" of strengthened international institutions based on the exigency of a far deeper degree of interdependence than existed previously.

No one country can survive with any level of citizen comfort without embedding itself in the world market. Once placed and maintained by it's producing economy, each country becomes another a cog in the gear of international commerce. No one country can afford to dictate terms in an aggressive manner to it's neighbors because they will share consequences of the economic disruption.
The US's adventure in Iraq was intended as military hegemony for economic gains in the oil market. The result has undermined the US position vis-a-vis oil by contributing to substantial increases in the price of oil, and undermining the US's longterm influence in Iraqi oil policy. The US has squandered it's future geopolitical position due to it's debt and loss of political influence. It has destabilized Iraq and its neighbors who control 25% of the world's oil. It has strengthened the position of our enemies, Iran and North Korea, and significantly contributed to world political power vacuum that ushered into world politics a resurgent Russia and launched prematurely a new super power, China.