This article examines the collapse of multilateral migration governance in Niger following the 2023 military coup and the broader implications for European Union (EU) external migration policy in the Sahel. Once a linchpin in EU strategies to externalize border control, Niger was the focus of extensive development aid, legal reforms, and security cooperation aimed at deterring irregular migration to Europe. These efforts, however, largely failed to achieve their objectives and generated local resistance, culminating in the annulment of key legislation and the breakdown of EU–Niger cooperation. Drawing on interviews with international officials, as well as policy documents, the article traces the evolution of EU interventions in Niger – from the deployment of the EU Capacity Building Mission to the use of the Emergency Trust Fund for Africa as a tool for ‘containment development’. It argues that in place of structured, multilateral frameworks, a fragmented system of ad hoc governance is emerging, led by international organizations and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) operating outside traditional state partnerships. This shift reflects a broader global trend toward informal, network-based governance and raises urgent questions about the accountability, sustainability, and legitimacy of EU migration policy in a multipolar world.

The interaction of artificial intelligence (AI), global economic interdependence, and foreign policy is turning into one of the issues of modern international politics. AI has ceased to be just a technological innovation in the context of a multipolar world where the United States, China, the European Union, Russia, and the emergent regional powers engage in strategic competition. It is becoming a geopolitical tool that defines trade, finance, supply chains, surveillance abilities, and diplomatic bargaining power. The thesis of this paper is that AI enhances the weaponization of economic interdependence through states being able to monitor, predict, manipulate, and disrupt transnational network with unprecedented accuracy. The paper examines how AI is reshaping economic relationships between countries based on international political economy and foreign policy theory, which are previously sources of mutually beneficial relations, into instruments of coercion. It also studies how states can adjust their foreign policies to this fact by focusing on resilience, technological sovereignty, strategic decoupling and coordination through alliances. The paper finds that AI is redefining foreign policy in a multipolar world by making the line between economic cooperation and strategic vulnerability indistinct, and driving the states to reconsider interdependence not as the source of peace, but as a battlefield of power.

Empirical Extrapolation of the Effective Women Empowerment Policy Framework for Poverty Reduction in a Gender Divided Multi-Polar World: The Nigerian Experiment

ABSTRACT This study examines China’s quasi-mediation diplomacy in the Middle East as a limited form of conflict management. Rather than viewing mediation as dispute resolution, quasi-mediation is framed as a strategy for China to engage regionally while minimizing political and reputational risk. Through cases such as the 2023 Saudi-Iran rapprochement and China’s involvement in the Israel-Palestine conflict, the article argues that quasi-mediation allows China to signal responsible power, manage regional instability, and expand its diplomatic visibility, without taking on coercive leverage or implementation. The analysis reveals that China’s efforts are more about reputational signaling and risk management than conflict resolution. Ultimately, quasi-mediation reflects China’s global ambitions and the constraints of its non-interference policy in a multipolar world.

The escalating tensions between proponents and adversaries of global unipolarity intensify the necessity for dependable valuation assessments. The research delves into the efficacy of the system of economic metrics (SEM). From the viewpoint of corporate leadership within BRICS+ nations the study evaluates the impartiality of international accounting and reporting standards, along with the SEM’s capacity to deliver benchmarks for international and sector-specific comparisons. The methodology includes the theory of market, behavioural and regional economics. The methods used are expert estimates, and multivariate regression analysis. The data comes from the audited financial statements of 44 leading publicly listed energy firms. The findings highlight a surplus in enterprise value (EV) under the US standards. Furthermore, substantial disparities are found in how EV fluctuations are accounted for between IFRS and national standards. Such results indicate a significant imbalance in the SEM as well as a strong correlation between it and Western economies. The study’s conclusion is that the financial reporting framework is lacking objectivity, and has limited functionality. This necessitates revisions to the development strategies of BRICS+ enterprises, the improvement of comparable benchmarking, and the establishment of an autonomous accounting system, which would be able to guarantee impartiality in cross-border and industry-wide comparisons, while capitalizing on the advantages of both GAAP and IFRS through assessment of core assets. In a multipolar world, fostering sustainable and equitable international market partnerships by refining economic metrics will empower and unlock the full potential of economies in the Global South.

ABSTRACT How is conflict management being reshaped in a multipolar world order? Drawing on within-case process tracing of Myanmar (2007–2025) and fieldwork between 2024 and 2026, this article examines how China and Russia intervene without converging on a model of post-liberal peace. Using multilingual official statements, UN records, borderland media and interviews, it reconstructs how external engagements reshape incentives and produce uneven outcomes. China’s approach links ceasefire brokerage to the protection of development corridors, deploying quiet diplomacy alongside economic coercion and monitoring to secure stability in strategic spaces. Russia’s engagement is organised around sovereignty shielding and security patronage, supplying arms and diplomatic cover that strengthens the capacity of military authorities. The interaction of these scripts generates fragmented post-liberal peaces: pockets of order and transactional truces that stabilise corridors and incumbency yet defer political settlement and prolong conflicts, suggesting that fragmentation is a structural feature of conflict management under multipolar globalisation.

ABSTRACT In addition to providing an overview of this special issue, this article by its editors argues that Domenico Losurdo’s work offers an indispensable framework for analyzing modern imperialism and the struggle for socialism, including the overt colonial aggression and ethnonationalism that characterizes contemporary US-led imperialism in its decline, as well as the concurrent rise of the global South and a multipolar world order led by China. Building on the theory of class struggle developed by Marx and Engels, Losurdo demonstrated why major class struggles in the age of imperialism take the form of national struggles for emancipation from colonialism, neocolonialism, and fascism. He understood the importance of development and self-defense in processes of socialist construction, as is evidenced in his analyses of China. This is one of the ways in which Losurdo’s work stands in contrast to the Eurocentric, anti-statist, utopian, and messianic tendencies in the Western left that he criticized and historicized. His arguments for a holistic and historically-grounded understanding of class struggles, which include battles against colonial oppression and subhumanization, are an important corrective to liberal and reactionary tendencies among the contemporary Western Left, including among some Marxists.

The article examines the transformation of the concept of constitutional identity in the context of deglobalization, regionalization, and the formation of a multipolar world. The authors analyze the genesis of the concept of constitutional identity, its doctrinal interpretation in Russian and foreign scholarship, as well as the practice of its application by constitutional justice bodies (using the examples of Russia, Germany, Italy, and France). Special attention is paid to the evolution of constitutionalism: from the instrumental and social models to the value-based model, reflecting national distinctiveness and traditional orientations. The role of the judicial doctrine of constitutional identity as a mechanism for protecting national sovereignty against the extraterritorial application of supranational law (decisions of the ECtHR, EU law) is considered. Based on an analysis of the constitutional amendments of 2020, the authors clarify the content of Part 4 of Article 15 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation as a conflict-of-laws rule establishing the priority of application of an international treaty over a statute, but not over the Constitution. The key significance of Part 2 of Article 4 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which enshrines the supremacy of the Basic Law, is emphasized. The conclusions substantiate the need to find a balance between Article 79 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and compliance with the principle of pacta sunt servanda, while unconditionally preserving the supremacy of the Basic Law.

Within the scope of this study, a comprehensive theoretical analysis of the concept of “soft power” has been conducted, examining its evolution from Joseph Nye’s classical definitions to contemporary geopolitical realities. The analysis distinguishes between different instruments of power, highlighting the interactions of “hard,” “smart,” and “sharp” power. The work dedicates a central place to the Russian model of perceiving “soft power” and its practical significance in the post-Soviet space. Using the example of the Republic of Armenia’s foreign policy, the study examines the dynamics of combining Western liberal-democratic values with Russian cultural-civilizational influence. Particular attention is given to the economic dimension of soft power, including the structural incentives embedded in Armenia’s EAEU membership – preferential energy pricing, access to regional labor markets, and trade facilitation which functioned alongside cultural and humanitarian instruments as mechanisms of attraction and structural alignment. The article argues that the “complementarism” policy adopted by Armenia has been a rational response to the multilayered influence of global power centers, aiming to strengthen state resilience and the security environment in a multipolar world order.

The relevance of the study stems from the “visual turn” in political and media communication, where images in the formats of memes and cartoons have become dominant tools for aggregating and constructing political meanings. They offer instantly recognizable cognitive frames for interpreting complex geopolitical processes, such as the confrontation of the collective West with Russia and China. The historical memory of the Cold War serves as a key semiotic resource; however, the specific mechanisms of its visual reactivation, semiotic adaptation, and ideological reworking in digital discourse remain understudied. The aim of the article is to conduct a multi-level analysis of the specifics of the representation and functional load of the COLD WAR concept in visual English-language political discourse. The empirical material comprises a specially compiled corpus of approximately 150 Internet memes and political cartoons that emerged between 2020 and 2025, selected from social networks and digital media. The methodological foundation is an interdisciplinary synthesis, including critical visual analysis, semiotics, intertextuality theory, the framing approach, and speech act theory. The study established that the COLD WAR concept functions as a dynamic cognitive frame whose slots are filled with current content (modern leaders, digital and economic methods of confrontation). This allows for reducing the complexity of a multipolar world to a bipolar model. A stable set of visual patterns was identified: archetypes of nuclear threat (“Doomsday Clock”), strategies of historical parallels, adaptation of classical metaphors (“Iron Curtain”), and the new semantics of technological confrontation. The dominant pragmatic functions are satire and irony (serving both for criticism and for trivializing the threat) and mobilization through the construction of binary “us vs. them” oppositions. An asymmetry in representation was found: the image of Russia is built on allusions to the USSR, while the image of China is futuristic and technocratic. The visual discourse plays not a reflective, but a constitutive role, actively participating in the production and naturalization of the narrative about a “new cold war” through the manipulation of collective memory. This makes it a key field of contemporary symbolic battles.

This research explores that the nuclear posture of Pakistan is undergoing a major change influenced by the changing regional threats and an increment in the reconfiguration of the system of international relations to multipolarity. This paper explores the changing nuclear course of Pakistan through the lens of the intermingling aspects of nuclear modernization, diplomatic signaling and strategic stability. It maintains that modernization process in Pakistan is not a product of expansionist agendas but a sense of asymmetry created by the conventional modernization of force in India, changing nuclear policies, and increased integration with the international nuclear order. At the same time, Pakistan has been using the diplomatic coded signals to present itself as a responsible nuclear state which believes in the stability of deterrence as opposed to nuclear adventurism. The research positions the nuclear policy of Pakistan in an up-and-coming multipolar system marked by the competition between great powers, division of technologies, and the decline of the norms of arms control, which complicates the classical deterrence relations in South Asia. Evaluating the doctrinal developments, the posture of the force, and the diplomatic activities, the article describes the issues which Pakistan is experiencing to ensure having credible deterrence without escalation and isolation by other countries. The results indicate that the future of nuclear in Pakistan will be characterized by the capability of Pakistan to strike the right balance between deterrence credibility and strategic restraint and diplomatic flexibility. The article helps to support the wider discussion of nuclear stability in the regional context and highlights the necessity of the inclusive and criteria-based approaches to the global nuclear governance in the multipolar world.

This article examines the strategic trajectory of dedollarization led by BRICS nations and the role of financial innovation in reimagining global monetary sovereignty in a multipolar world. While significant work has documented the rise of alternative currencies and payment systems, the strategic and institutional dimensions of BRICS-led statecraft remain under-explored. Drawing on a robust corpus of qualitative secondary data spanning 2010–2025, this study employs a novel, integrated framework that links strategic state motivations, institutional architecture, and technological enablers. Using comparative financial system mapping and thematic document analysis, we trace how BRICS has operationalized dedollarization via instruments such as local-currency trade, currency swaps, and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Our findings suggest that while the US dollar remains as dominant currency globally, BRICS initiatives are producing significant, albeit incremental, shifts in global finance. We identify a dual dynamic of territorial diversification, where intra-bloc trade and lending increasingly utilize non-USD currencies, and functional innovation, where new digital payment platforms and CBDCs enable alternative payment rails. For example, the share of RMB in global payment systems has measurably increased from ~2% in 2019 to a peak of nearly 4.6% in late 2024, and over 90% of Russia-China bilateral trade is now settled in local currencies. This growth, however, has fluctuated, with recent reports indicating the share at ~3.5% in April 2025. The paper contributes a nuanced framework that offers clear foresight into how these BRICS actions may incrementally reshape the international monetary and financial system (IMFS), suggesting a gradual restructuring rather than a sudden rupture of dollar hegemony.

The contemporary international system is gradually shifting from a unipolar order to a multipolar world structure, where several powerful nations share global influence. In this emerging global order, India has emerged as a key actor with growing political, economic, and strategic importance. As the world’s largest democracy, a rapidly expanding economy, and a strong advocate of multilateral cooperation, India has the potential to play a constructive leadership role in shaping global governance. This article examines the concept of multipolarity, analyzes India’s rise as a global power, and evaluates its leadership role in international institutions, economic diplomacy, regional stability, and global development initiatives. The study also highlights the challenges and future prospects of India’s leadership in the evolving international order.

The paper explores the evolving nature of India’s strategic stand of Non-Alignment in the contemporary global order marked by increasing military and political instability, including tensions involving major powers like the United States, Russia, Ukraine, Iran and Israel. While the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) historically provided a platform for newly independent nations to navigate geopolitical divides during the Cold War, the emergence of multipolarity and strategic autonomy has led to a reassessment of its significance. There is a shift toward strategic partnerships and multi-alignment, diverging from traditional non-alignment. The paper begins with a brief historical background of NAM, an examination of the challenges to NAM post Soviet collapse and assesses the shift in India’s strategic positions in multipolar world order amidst contemporary political and military instabilities around the world.

India is one of the ancient civilizations that has it’s influence over the world. The roots of Indian civilization in the form of ideas theories philosophies are present in the world and can be traced all over. Example : Kautilya’s Arthasastra on statecraft and foreign policy. The journey of Indian foreign policy began times immemorial and turned robust in the 20th century. The dynamism in the foreign policy has made India to stand among the Global powers and exert it’s influence. India faced tough times when the ideal leaders in the initial stages formulated policies that were far away from the hard realities. The 21st century leaders through the realist approach to the foreign policy have created a level playing field for India in the multipolar world balancing the super powers. India has contributed immensely to the world community mainly in the International organizations striving to promote the world peace. The brotherhood nature of India can be witnessed in the polices like Non Aligned Movement, Look East, Act East, vaccine maitri, developmental programs in Afghanistan etc. With the changing world order India has shifted it’s gears through the strong foreign policy ensuring the national interests and also the World peace. The role played by India in UNO and all the regional groupings is aiming only at the goal of making world the better place to live with peace and co operation.

The main focus of this research Article was to identify the dynamic strength and weakness of Pakistan’s South Asian foreign policy on economic development since its creation from 1947 to June 2025 through development of an appropriate theoretical framework in light of recent close defense and strategic ties with China. This study analyzed the foreign policy of Pakistan in emerging perception of geo-economics trends in order to identify opportunities and challenges to innovate for the future course for fulfillment of inspiration need of the country. To address this gap, the study adopted theoretical framework followed by a conceptual framework which combine different theories related to foreign policy in the light of that the Pakistan’s South Asia foreign policies were analyzed on economic development. The conceptual framework identified the major internal and external factors directing the Pakistan Geo-economics policy of South Asia were evaluated to find opportunities and mitigating the challenges for prosperity and better future of its people. The last few decades have resulted in multi-polar world order and Pakistan’s historic opportunity to bring balance in foreign policy with superpowers on basis of mutual benefits, respect, equity and equality. The trade has been improved with Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. On the other hand, the trade with India was influenced by events and diplomatic complexities in different periods from 1947 to 2025. In order to overcome the trade imbalance as well as to bring peace and to improve the economic development by effective utilization of resources.

This introductory article introduces the concepts of misfit and misfitting as a relational prism for analysing social life in conditions of uncertainty and indeterminacy. Drawing on ethnographic materials from ‘in-between’ places in a multipolar world, it examines how elements that no longer – or not yet – fit dominant orders generate awkward relations that reverberate across cognitive, affective, spatial, and temporal domains. Engaging critically with anthropological debates on categorization, liminality, affect, and repair, the article argues that the in-between is neither unstructured nor merely transitional, but textured by power, historical afterlives, and anticipations of uncertain futures. Misfit/misfitting, we argue, is not simply about being ‘out of place’, but a quality that can reveal how social and political fabrics are strained, realigned, rejected outright, or restitched. Thus, attending to moments of misfitting allows us to see society as an ongoing patchwork constantly made and remade through rupture and repair.

The history of Soviet–Hungarian interactions from the establishment of diplomatic relations until Hungary entered the Second World War alongside the Axis powers offers valuable insights into the dynamics between small and great powers, as well as the efforts of small European states, particularly Hungary, to navigate their national interests in foreign policy in the face of the encroachments of Nazi Germany. This period was defined by two primary factors: the Hungarian political elite, led by Miklós Horthy, sought to join a quasi-crusade against Comintern Soviet Russia, while simultaneously striving to avoid deep involvement in major conflicts between the great powers. This dual approach aligned with the policies of Hitler’s Western appeasers, who aimed to redirect German expansion eastward. In this geopolitical scenario, American and Western European actors (including Great Britain and France) were relegated to the role of observers, anticipating a prolonged conflict between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that would drain both. The Hungarian leadership hoped to secure a position among these observers and thus avoid direct participation in the conflict, and to later engage in territorial reconfiguration after the war. However, the reality in Europe by the early 1940s was very different, with Western powers (the United States and Great Britain) unable to redirect Hitler’s global domination ambitions eastward. Facing an existential threat, these powers were compelled to enter the war. It was against this backdrop that Soviet diplomacy endeavoured to deter Hungary’s alliance with Nazi Germany. Although ultimately unsuccessful, examining these diplomatic efforts offers valuable lessons in the context of the current evolution towards a multipolar world.

The international legal order has long been shaped by a paradigm of globalistic hegemony, in which powerful states and transnational institutions dominate the formulation, interpretation, and enforcement of international norms. This hegemonic structure has generated persistent debates over legitimacy, equity, and inclusiveness within global governance. The call to reconstruct international legal order beyond the paradigm of globalistic hegemony therefore arises from both theoretical and practical concerns: the erosion of state sovereignty, the asymmetrical benefits of globalization, and the marginalization of voices from the Global South. This paper interrogates the limits of hegemonically driven legal frameworks and explores alternative pathways for establishing a more balanced, multi-polar, and pluralistic order. Drawing on theories of sovereignty, self-determination, and multi-polarity, the paper argues that international law must be reconfigured to reflect the realities of an evolving global order in which emerging powers, regional blocs, and non-state actors increasingly challenge unilateral dominance. The reconstruction of international legal order necessitates rethinking the foundational principles of equality of states, non-intervention, and collective security in ways that align with twenty-first-century geopolitical complexities. It also requires the reform of global governance institutions such as the United Nations Security Council, the World Trade Organization, and international financial bodies, to ensure broader representation and accountability. Ultimately, moving beyond globalistic hegemony is not a rejection of international cooperation but an affirmation of its necessity under fairer and more equitable terms. By advancing pluralism, decentralization, and shared responsibility, a reconstructed international legal order can foster legitimacy, stability, and peace in an increasingly multi-polar world.

Abstract a. The Emergence of Multipolarity in Global Affairs A multipolar framework, marked by the dispersion of power among both established Western countries and emerging entities like China, India, and Russia, is replacing unipolar supremacy in the global order. This shift highlights a shift toward power-based hierarchies where state powers in the military, economic, and resource domains determine influence over normative standards. It has been exacerbated by economic realignments and technology breakthroughs. Because multipolar competition creates splintered authority and calls into question the universality of liberal ideals, global governance organizations such as the United Nations and World Trade Organization are under threat. Calls for reformed multilateralism that takes into account a variety of stakeholders are prompted by recent geopolitical tensions, such as the war between Russia and Ukraine and the competition between the United States and China, which serve as examples of how power imbalances triggering instability. b. Power-Based Order and Its Ramifications In a power-centric paradigm, coercive instruments such as sanctions, trade barriers, and military alliances supplant cooperative frameworks, leading to decentralized conflicts and hybrid threats across digital and economic spheres. This order amplifies the role of critical resources—energy, rare earths, and semiconductors—as levers of influence, compelling nations to prioritize resilience and self-sufficiency. For global governance, implications include diminished efficacy of bodies like the UN Security Council, paralyzed by veto dynamics amid rising authoritarian populism and alternative alliances such as BRICS expansion. Yet, this shift harbour’s opportunities for inclusive mechanisms, where minilateral coalitions address transnational issues like climate change and cybersecurity through adaptive diplomacy.