The conspiracy theory says that a group of international elites control and manipulates governments, industry, and media organizations worldwide. They are said to have funded and in some cases caused most of the major wars of the last 200 years, carry out false flag attacks to manipulate populations into supporting them, and they have a grip on the world economy. Operatives working for the New World Order are said to be placed in high positions in government and industry. The people behind the New World Order are thought to be international bankers, in particular the owners of the private banks in the Federal Reserve System and other central banks, and members of the Council on Foreign Relations, Trilateral Commission and Bilderberg Group. The New World Order is also said to control supranational and global organizations such as the European Union, United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the proposed North American Union. The term gained popularity following its use in the early 1990s by President George H. W. Bush when he referred to his "dream of a New World Order" in his speech to the United States Congress on September 11, 1990.

Claimed motivations behind the New World Order conspiracy vary but a commonly suggested end goal for the conspiracy is the creation of a one-world government through which the conspirators would exert absolute dominance over the Earth and eliminate all sources of dissent.