Power Shift, Governance Deficit and a Sustainable Global Order

This paper puts forward three interrelated arguments. First, a tripartite power structure has been emerging, with the United States as the superpower, and Europe and the BRICS as major forces. Together they will shape the future world order. Second, the changed nature of security concerns from purely inter-state threats to trans-state ones provides opportunities for the three forces to cooperate, but genuine cooperation for the global commons is far from satisfying. It results in a gap between the demand for effective global governance and the supply of adequate international institutions. Hence there appears a global governance deficit. Third, the key to eliminating such a deficit is cooperation between the original major powers and the emerging ones for building a sustainable global order. If such cooperation is to be realized, emerging powers should be taken as equal partners rather than challengers in the international system. In this respect, their active participation in the reform of international institutions is of paramount significance.