As the liberal international order unravels, global politics is entering an interregnum where old institutions persist but no longer persuade. Political theorists Jeremy Moulton and Nicolai Gellwitzki argue that what is collapsing is not just global order but the political myths that once gave it meaning. As empire returns to public discourse, shifting stories of power and legitimacy are reshaping what states see as possible in world politics.

In 2026, the world finds itself in a moment of transition, an interregnum. To borrow an often cited line from Antonio Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks: “the old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.” Much can be said about this moment, about transformations of the global order, material capacities, late capitalism, or the rise of fascism around the world. These are all urgent concerns. Yet, there is one crucial dimension that has remained underexplored - a dimension that might explain many of these wider themes - the role of political myths and how such myths are changing in the contemporary world. 

In everyday language, as well as in media and official discourse, the word myth is often used to dismiss an event, a claim, or a narrative as mere fiction. Something described as myth is treated as untrue and used to delegitimise particular claims. Myth becomes synonymous with “fake news.” Yet a closer look, informed by anthropology and philosophy, reveals a different picture. Stories become myths not because they lack factual accuracy but because they convey significance. They meet a human need for order, transform chaos into cosmos, and offer coherence in moments of uncertainty. They are collective stories, told and retold across generations, subtly shifting over time and place. All narratives convey meaning, but only myths convey the significance that shapes our understanding of the world, explaining we live as we do and helping us make sense of the world around us. Political myths are powerful because people act as if they are true, whether or not they are.

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A new age of myth is taking shape.

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Myths are not new. They have shaped human societies since the first civilisations and remain central to religion and politics. Consider ancient Greek myths, from the age of heroes to the Trojan War. These events did not unfold as recounted but this is not what matters. What matters is that the telling of those stories, those myths, shaped political imagination and action for contemporary audiences. They conferred legitimacy on some authorities, justified certain actions, and delegitimised others. Social, religious, and political life were ordered within a cosmos defined by myth. Crucially, myth is not a thing of the past. Human beings, as existentialist Hans Blumenberg argues, have never overcome the need for significance and are unlikely ever to do so. From the audiences of Ancient Greece to those of today’s overwhelming media landscape, people seek to understand their world through the stories they tell and retell. Myths persist, even as their form and content change.