PARIS —We are entering a new world Monday, even if we may not fully realize it yet. It's easy to dismiss Donald Trump's initial actions as the usual eccentricities, expecting life to return to normal. That would be a mistake.

Yes, we are truly entering a new world. To understand this, one need only look at the statement made last week in the U.S. Senate by Marco Rubio, Trump's pick for Secretary of State. Rubio explained that the United States has significantly benefited from the international order established after World War II in 1945.

But he added: "The post-war global order is not just obsolete; it is now a weapon used against us. We are once again called upon to create a free world out of chaos."