New World Order and Multipolarity

The contemporary international system is undergoing a profound transformation, marked by the decline of US hegemony and the emergence of a multipolar—or, as Amitav Acharya terms it, “multiplex”—world order. While scholars from both the Global North and South have identified this transition as the end of the Pax Americana, the contours of the new global order remain uncertain, reflecting an interregnum in Gramsci’s sense: a period in which the old order is fading and the new one has yet to fully emerge. Within this evolving landscape, the rise of the BRICS and their BRICS Plus strategy has become a defining feature of twenty-fir-century geopolitics, challenging Western dominance and contributing to a more plural, balanced system of governance. This chapter contrasts three classical configurations of world order—bipolarity, unipolarity, and multipolarity—highlighting how the post-Cold War “unipolar moment” has given way to a more diffuse and complex structure. Multipolarity, characterized by multiple centers of power, offers the potential for more inclusive and representative decision-making but also introduces new uncertainties, as dialogue among these centers remains fragile. The multiplex perspective deepens this analysis by emphasizing not only the diffusion of power but also the coexistence of multiple modernities, narratives, and governance models, reflecting a shift from a single liberal international order to overlapping regional and normative systems. The expansion of the BRICS through the BRICS Plus framework—most recently including Egypt, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, and Indonesia—embodies this transformation, promoting South–South cooperation and new financial architectures such as the New Development Bank and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement. Meanwhile, the relative decline of the G7 and the strategic relevance of the G20 illustrate how traditional Western-led forums are being complemented—and, at times, contested—by emerging multilateral platforms. Together, these developments signal a reconfiguration of global governance toward a more polycentric, plural, and contested order, in which the BRICS play a pivotal role as both architects and symbols of a post-hegemonic world.