The New World Order

Abstract

The world has moved into a new era since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The bipolar world in which the global sociopolitical system was a hostage of relations between Moscow and Washington-and in which stability depended on the ability of the two superpowers to reach agreements between themselves-has passed into history. But the incipient unipolar world, led by the US, is now demonstrating its inability to cope effectively with the challenges of the present. This article confronts problems with the developing world system.Such problems are a consequence of a series of factors. Geoeconomic divisions have changed the entire system of international relations, including the main international organizations and structures, rules, and regulations that were passed down to us from the preceding period and are mostly ineffective today. The most recent example is Kosovo. The need to establish a new system of international organizations and new international law has met with strong resistance on the part of those elites that had considerable political advantages in the old world order. The formalized system of managing international relations that served the geopolitics of the Cold War proved to be stronger than its political content, and in many respects its inertia is hindering the establishment of a system of international organizations and law suitable for the new era.Elements of improvisation in the policy of the world's leading powers have greatly increased. The world today is living in an era of political improvisation that has replaced governmental foreign policy strategy worldwide. The sole world superpower-the United States-has proven itself to be ill equipped for providing undivided responsibility on a global scale, and it has largely reduced its naturally developed leadership to crude domination. As a result, the US has begun to lose its significance as an attractive model of social, political, and ideological development. In its place, all sorts of destructive movements and forces have begun to rise, from Islamic extremism to ethnic and state nationalism. The policies of large countries-including the US and Russia-have therfore become predominantly reactive. This has markedly diminished the possibility of cooperation, even on the most important world issues. Elites have even begun speaking of a new Cold War.There has been a complete breakdown of the traditional regional structure that for decades was the foundation of international policy and the foreign economic market. Processes of globalization have begun to play a greater role, and they are now determining the parameters of regional development, security, and stability. Inclusion in global processes is more than ever determining the role and importance of individual countries in the world. The national elites of most states are trying to become global, and countries that bank on political and economic regionalism remain on the sidelines of world politics. Moreover, the concept of regional security-and thus of regional military and political blocs-has lost its significance. The national security of individual countries can no longer be ensured through a regional defence system.The same processes are increasingly evident in the world economy. Economically settled states are falling behind in the rate of their development visa-vis rapidly advancing economies. The world energy market-red-hot today because of unprecedented high prices for energy sources and the uncertainty of political risks-is a powerful region- splitting factor. In addition, the development of international communication and technology has led to the near-total disappearance of regional and national information systems. The educational system is becoming increasingly global. Traditional religions-particularly Islam-have spilled over the boundaries of their traditional regions and spread globally. Every day, tens of millions of people-and millions of items of merchandise-cross borders that are becoming increasingly transparent and arbitrary. …