A New World Order:

Abstract

We wish to find out how much has changed in international relations and in what way. We contend that economic changes shape an increased differentiation within an evermore interdependent economic hierarchy of countries where the core/periphery distinction between North and South is the major dividing line. At the political level, the state is being challenged as the dominant focus of political authority by processes of democratization, nationalism and individualism. Among the industrialized countires, both economic and political developments have led to the formation of a security community. This means a qualitative change in relations traditionally characterized by anarchy. In this emerging order, the distinction between domestic and international politics is becoming increasingly blurred, and we are seeing a growing demand for international governance. The final section asks about the consequences of these recent developments for the traditional IR-paradigms. We argue that globalism will come more into focus than hitherto; that modified neorealism and modified neopluralism will merge into a single paradigm; finally, a new prominent paradigm, global individualism, is emerging.