Opinion | A New World Struggles To Be Born |
Opinion | A New World Struggles To Be Born
Updated: May 01, 2026 17:29 pm IST Published On May 01, 2026 17:28 pm IST Last Updated On May 01, 2026 17:29 pm IST
Published On May 01, 2026 17:28 pm IST
Last Updated On May 01, 2026 17:29 pm IST
The war in West Asia has accelerated the unravelling of the post-Cold War order. For all its contradictions, this was an order that generated unprecedented wealth and lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty. But it struggled to reconcile power with principle and universality with diversity. It also produced shifts in the global distribution of power that it has been unable to adapt to. The question, therefore, is not whether the old order will endure. It will not. The real question is what comes next.
This is a difficult question because it asks us to imagine the future. In doing so, one must try to be both optimistic and idealistic, and not let the brutishness of the current environment, or even the inherent nature of international relations, undermine that imagination. At the same time, ignoring the realities of the world, the enduring role of states, and the historical experiences of violence that have marked the transition of orders would do a disservice to the inquiry. Feasibility, therefore, becomes the parameter that mediates between idealism and the realities of current times.
Before outlining what the contours of the next global order should or are likely to be, it is important to identify the tensions that such an order must contend with.
First, there is a tension among three forces. On the one hand are the norms of the Westphalian system, such as state sovereignty,........