Introduction

This chapter presents an analysis of recent global trends in international relations, with special emphasis on the connections between cultural pluralism; political regionalism and interregionalism. New actors and varieties of cultural politics have challenged not only the Western model of modernization but also Western-derived forms of democracy. Culture and civilization exist in the modern world only in the plural. Although the great civilizations of the world all have come under the influence of the West, each has tried to develop its own set of generative principles. The chapter distinguishes carefully between authoritarian populism and “multiple modernities”. Nevertheless, it tries to add to our understanding of both phenomena and their respective impacts on regionalism, interregionalism, and multilateralism. The authors contributing to Part II of this volume seek to lay bare the historical roots of regional multilateral cooperation in specific settings.