> rules-based international order is mostly a propaganda term that the Us empire invented. It also was mostly "rules for thee but not for me"

I think there was an effort to try to stick to it, at least early on after WWII when people had seen what the old system resulted in.

Then the Berlin blockade, Korea, and Hungarian intervention happened and the implication was made that the rules were what were to be aspired to, not actually followed, and it's been all downhill from there.

Incidentally, most of those aren't on the "Us empire".