Making Sense of Global Tensions: Dominant and Subaltern Conceptions of Order and Justice in the International System

The tension between the hegemonic and subaltern perspectives of international order can be summarized in the following fashion: While the former emphasizes order among states and justice within them, the latter stresses order within states and justice among them. This tension has manifested itself, although not always very neatly, in such diverse arenas of international politics as humanitarian intervention, nuclear proliferation and residual colonialism. While the tension between the dominant and subaltern views of world order is a global phenomenon, it finds manifestation in its most acute form in the broader Middle East, comprising West, Southwest and Central Asia. This is because issues such as Iran’s nuclear aspirations, Israel’s occupation of Palestine, and the rise of political Islam as the anti-hegemonic ideology par excellence highlight this tension most clearly.