Multipolarism
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Article is a bit shallow |
 Multipolarism  (concept)   | |
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| A multipolar world is gaining strength with a mix of global and regional players |
Multipolarism or Multipolarity is a distribution of power in which more than two states have similar amounts of power.
Concert of Europe
The Concert of Europe, a period from after the Napoleonic Wars to the Crimean War, was an example of peaceful multipolarity (the great powers of Europe assembled regularly to discuss international and domestic issues, and repressed internally).
More recently, the United States, China, Russia, and to some extent, Europe, are generally assessed as the four main geopolitical players in the world. Within this club, the US and Europe are defenders of the so-called “rules-based liberal world order” and the two others are seen as contesting it. In the West, this is seen as a conflict between democracies and authoritarians. But the situation is not so simple.[1]
Challenging US hegemony
For a long time, with the US being de facto the global hegemon, this world order functioned under Washington’s protection. This brought a lot of benefits, but even good things come to an end. Multipolarism is currently challenging this hegemony. A rules-based world order is very important for smaller states, but it needs to be upheld by larger powers. Multipolarism does not necessarily jeopardise the rules if a good balance exists. However, today we see increasing fragmentation. Power blocs are forming. Each appears to be dominated by one of the four main players. But this model is a simplification based on past roles. We[what does that mean?] must think outside the box.[2]
