New World Order (NWO) This phrase is usually associated with President George Bush and came into prominence in the aftermath of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on 2 August 1990. President Bush was anxious that the American reaction to this AGGRESSION should not be, or be seen to be, a UNILATERAL one, but should be viewed in the context of re-emergence of the idea of COLLECTIVE SECURITY in the post-COLD WAR era. In a speech to a joint session of both houses of congress on 11 September 1990, President Bush outlined five “simple principles” which should from the framework of an evolving international order: “out of these troubled times, our fifth objective—a new world order—can emerge: a new era—freer from the threat of terror, stronger in the pursuit of justice and more secure in the quest for peace, an era in which the nations, of the word, East and West, North and South, can prosper and live in harmony.