A Dream Falling Apart: The Deepening Crisis of the International and European Order

Abstract

This roundtable features some leading world scholars studying the crumbling of the international and European order. Established after the second world war and globalized around the turn of the Millennium, the international order supposedly rests on the principles of openness and rules-based cooperation, complemented with distinct liberal content. These principles are increasingly challenged by emerging powers and significant segments of the domestic population in Western states. Emerging powers contest both the prominent position of Western powers in the order and its liberal social purpose. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, tacitly supported by the distanced positions of China, India, and other emerging powers, violently highlights the cracks in the order. Domestic publics within democratic countries contest the intrusion of international institutions in sovereign national politics and the notion of openness and globalization. In the middle of this is the European Union, seeking to support cooperation and multilateralism but also struggling to find its place in the conflicts in Europe and on the global scene. The post-Cold War dream of a world where states cooperate on solving common problems and where human interaction across nations flourishes is falling apart. Europe and the world have entered treacherous waters. Scholars on this roundtable will help us navigate them.