UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that the world is facing a “pivotal moment” and business as usual could lead to a “breakdown of the world order.” The world must heed his warning. Even though we are not in the midst of a World War, what we have is a world at war. The post-fascist universe is expanding. Democracies too are facing a crisis of electoral legitimacy. Historian Anne Applebaum and British journalist and author Peter Pomerantsev argue that “the end of democracy has already begun”. The world order that has largely kept relative peace and stability is under threat.

Footloose capitalism has given way to what former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis calls “technofeudalism.” Apple, Facebook and Amazon, he contends, have changed the economy beyond recognition. It now “resembles Europe’s medieval feudal system.” To Varoufakis, the “tech giants are the lords, while everyone else is a peasant, working their land for not much in return” When the technological future becomes unpredictable, policy makers drive in the dark. The rules-based world order is constantly fragmenting. Today, there are multiple tipping points in international politics and global development. Multipolarity has increased but multilateralism has decreased.

How do we describe the global order? Is it multipolar? There are some who argue that we are now living in a multimatrixed world. Amitabh Acharya of American University, Washington, asserts that the existing world order is not multipolar but ‘multiplex’. Acharya defines the world order in terms of multiplexity. Multiplex world has four characteristics. First, there is no global hegemony by one or small group of countries. Second, interdependence encompasses governance, sustainable development, security and connectivity. Third, it contains a........

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