Gemeinschaft as the Lynchpin of Multilateralism: World Order and the Challenge of Multipolarity

The dominance of the international system by the United States, which has acted as ‘unipolar’ hegemon since at least 1991, is ending with the rise of new powers such as China, India and Brazil and the resulting transition of the system to a ‘multipolar’ configuration. This transition will facilitate a re-shaping of the ‘normative system’ of international law, in which the US model centred on liberal democracy and human rights is challenged by alternative conceptions of world order, with the new powers likely to favour a greater emphasis upon sovereignty and the international rule of law. This more particularist normative schema lies however in fundamental tension with the current structure of institutional multilateralism, and thus the transition to multipolarity threatens the stability of the international system by hampering humanity's ability to tackle a series of significant collective action problems, most notably the maintenance of international peace through collective security arrangements.