Global disorder

Abstract

There is a broad consensus that the old, ‘liberal’ international order has been eroding for quite some time. This erosion manifests itself in the progressive overextension of important norms and values, as well as international institutions, and the rise of violence in conflict management within and between states. The reasons for these developments lie in a structural mismatch between the dynamics of globalization, on the one hand, and the capacities of politics to respond to them, on the other. A key problem in this context is conceptions of national sovereignty, which are at odds with the realities of a globalizing world. I also argue that the civilian powers were confronted with changes in the international environment that made it exceedingly difficult for them to succeed in their ambition to ‘civilize’, or transform, world politics.