The current international order is analogous to the one before the Second World War, which Antonio Gramsci, in 1929, described aptly in the following words: “The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.” The international rules-based world order established after the Second World War is similarly struggling to survive, and the new order has yet to emerge. Skepticism about NATO and US leadership is likely to significantly impact the emergence of the new order in the Middle East. There are signs that countries such as Egypt, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey are looking for alternative alliances in Asia, such as BRICS and SCO, which still appear to be in their nascent phase. Syria will be a litmus test for Turkey in the region, but the situation in Syria, with the involvement of multiple regional and global actors and the multi-ethnic fabric of the country, does not bode well for the Syrian project post-Assad. The developments in Syria will play a significant role in determining the trajectory of the future Middle East order

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