THE CONTEMPORARY INTERNATIONAL ORDER: ESSENCE, CRISIS, AND ALTERNATIVES

Abstract

The profound transformations of world politics in the early twenty-first century, associated with the global financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, intensifying great-power competition, the rise of China, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the spread of nationalism and populism, and the erosion of American hegemony, indicate the crisis of the contemporary international order and bring to the forefront the question of its future and possible alternatives. The article examines the principal theoretical approaches to understanding international order developed within Liberal Institutionalism, Realism, and the English School of International Relations. It argues that international order can be understood as a system of norms, institutions, rules, and mechanisms of interstate interaction that ensures a relative degree of stability and predictability in international relations. Particular attention is devoted to the concept of the Liberal International Order and its evolution from the post-war order led by the United States to the globalized order of the unipolar era. The study demonstrates that the crisis of the Liberal International Order is complex in nature and stems from both its internal contradictions and structural changes in the international system. Among the key factors contributing to its decline are the redistribution of global power, the rise of new centres of influence,  the consequences of hyperglobalization, the growth of nationalism, and the limited capacity of international institutions to adapt to emerging challenges. The article also reviews the views of leading scholars regarding the prospects for preserving, reforming, or dismantling the Liberal International Order. Based on an analysis of contemporary trends, the study identifies the main alternatives to the future international order, including unipolar, bipolar, multipolar, and nonpolar models. Special attention is paid to the concept of a multiplex order as a possible form of post-Western organization of international relations.