ABSTRACT
The liberal establishment in the United States (US) seemed to have been caught unaware of the profound changes taking place in the international system. A range of factors is contributing to the decline of the liberal international order, which was already happening before Donald Trump’s election. The rise of China and India is only one part of the picture: other factors include the general rise of the global South; changes in the international institutional architecture or global governance architecture; the rise of regionalism and challenges to state sovereignty, which is still the founding principle of the western American liberal order. Multipolarity is a rather old-fashioned, archaic way of analyzing the world order. It is undoubtedly convenient but is a flawed explanation of contemporary international relations. International norms are much more powerful in today’s world than in the past because of the sheer power wielded by social media platforms and communication technology.
