"The solution was what we now call the rules-based order, and means that European-style legal systems control business across borders, so armed force need not be used to enforce contracts."

I wonder how Europe got there? Maybe they all decided to talk through their problems.

The rules-based order was first proposed in late Victorian Britain, as part of a wider debate as to how the British Empire should evolve, but yes, the World Wars made the idea a lot more attractive to much more of the world.