New world order: restoration or moral revolution?

New world order: restoration or moral revolution?



Article received: 2022.12.16. Accepted: 2023.02.03


DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2023.03.02
EDN: RZBQNY


For citation:

Chebankova E.A. New world order: restoration or moral revolution? – Polis. Political Studies. 2023. No. 3. https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2023.03.02. EDN: RZBQNY



Abstract

The ongoing turbulence in global politics has been accompanied by calls to shift the current order of international relations from a rules-based world towards a multipolar system rooted in international law. Political leaders and commentators, primarily of Russian origin, have often referred to those initiatives as a moral revolution in the current world order. This paper examines the theological and philosophical background behind the ideas that support such a change. The discussion argues that these proposals, though they sound revolutionary, echo the Abrahamic principles of international dialogue drafted by medieval Christian theologians, Reformation thinkers, and Jewish and Islamic religious philosophers. The account stresses that contemporary adherents of the replacement of the rules-based world do not openly refer to religious doctrines. However, the core tenets of the suggested reforms align well with those earlier ethical principles. This conclusion is purely scholarly and contributes to the history of ideas.

Keywords
world order, moral revolution, globalism, regionalism, Russia, the West, religion, balance of forces, rules-based world, Abrahamic theology.


References

Acharya, A. (2014). Global international relations (IR) and regional worlds. International Studies Quarterly, 58(4), 647-659. https://doi.org/10.1111/isqu.12171

Berger, P. (1999). The desecularization of the world: a global overview. In P. Berger (Ed.), The Desecularization of the World. Resurgent religion and world politics (pp. 1-19). Washington, DC: Ethics and Public Policy Centre.

Brooks, S. & Wohlforth, W. (2008). World out of balance: international relations and the challenge of American primacy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400837601

Brown Scott, J. (1934). The Catholic conception of international law. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.

Bull, H. (2000). Justice in international relations. In K. Alderson & A. Hurrell (Ed.), Hedley Bull on International Society (pp. 206-245). London: Macmillan.

Buzan, B. (2011). A world order without superpowers: decentred globalism. International Relations, 25(3), 3-25. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047117810396999

Buzan, B., & Lawson, G. (2015). The global transformation: history, modernity, and the making of international relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139565073

Chandra, V. (2018). Rising powers and the future of international order. World Affairs: The Journal of International Issues, 22(1), 10-23.

Cocker, Ch. (2019). The rise of the civilizational state. Cambridge: Polity.

Dante, A. (2000). The Divine comedy. Paradiso Cantos XXIX-XXXII (translated by Robin Kirkpatrick with an Introduction by Robin Kirkpatrick). London: Penguin Books.

Darden, K. (2017). Russian revanche: external threats and regime reactions. Daedalus, 146(2), 128-142. https://doi.org/10.1162/DAED_a_00440

Doyle, J.P., & Evans, C. (Ed.). (1999). Religion and international law. Cambridge, Mass: Martinus Publishers, 103-120.

George, W. (1999a). Grotius, theology, and international law: overcoming textbook bias. Journal of Law and Religion, 14(2), 605-631. https://doi.org/10.2307/3556583

George, W. (1999b). Looking for a global ethics? Try international law. In M. Janis and C. Evans (Ed.), Religion and international law (pp. 483-504). Cambridge, Mass: Martinus Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789047413400_027

Guizot, F. (1997). The history of civilization in Europe. Indianapolis: The Liberty Fund.

Hashmi, S. (1988). Islamic ethics in international society. In D. Mapel & T. Nardin (Ed.), International Society. Diverse Ethical Perspectives (pp. 215-236). Princeton: Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1ddd0n9.18

Higgott, R. (2019). Civilizations, states and world order. Where are we? Where are we going? DOC Institute Report for the 17th Rhodes Forum. https://doc-research.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Civilisations-states-and-world-order_PDF-slim.pdf.

James, A. (1986). Sovereign statehood: the basis of international society. London: Aleen and Unwin.

Kaplan, R. (2006). Imperial grunts: on the ground with the American military, from Mongolia to the Philippines to Iraq and beyond. New York: Vintage.

Kennedy, D. (1999). Images of religion in international legal theory. In M. Janis & C. Evans (Ed.), Religion and International Law (pp. 145-155). Cambridge, Mass: Martinus Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789047413400_013

Lieven, A., & Hulsman, J. (2006). Ethical realism. A vision for America’s role in the world. New York: Pantheon Books.

Manning, C.A.W. (1975). The nature of international society. London: Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-02704-0

Novak, D. (1989). Jewish-Christian dialogue. a Jewish justification. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Novak, D. (1998). Jewish theology and international society. In D. Mapel, & T. Nardin (Ed.), International Society. Diverse Ethical Perspectives (pp. 185-201). Princeton: Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1ddd0n9.16

Oppenheim, L. (1955). International Law: a treatise. I: Peace. 8th edi. Ed. by H. Lauterpacht. London, New York, Toronto: Longmans, Green, and Co.

Ratzinger, J. (2007). Jesus of Nazareth: from the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration. London: Bloomsbury.

Rosenne, Sh. (1999). The influence of Judaism on the development of international law: an assessment. In M. Janis, & C. Evans (Ed.), Religion and International Law (pp. 63-94). Cambridge, Mass.: Martinus Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789047413400_009

Schmidt, K.L. (1965). Theological dictionary of the New Testament. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

Skinner, Qu. (2002). The foundations of modern political thought. Vol. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Stackhouse, D. (1998). Christianity and the prospects for a new global order. In D. Mapel, & T. Nardin (Ed.), International Society. Diverse Ethical Perspectives (pp. 201-215). Princeton: Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691227627-015

Stuenkel, O. (2016). Post-Western world. How emerging powers are remaking global order. Cambridge: Polity. https://doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780199743292-0187

Suganami, H. (2010). The English school in a nutshell. Ritsumeikan Review of International Studies, 9(1), 15-28.

Taylor, A.J.P. (1954). The struggle for mastery in Europe. 1848-1918. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

Content No. 3, 2023

See also:


Karaganov S.A.,
Departure of Military Superiority of the West, and Geo-Economics. – Polis. Political Studies. 2019. No6

Polyakov L.V.,
Theory of nation-building by Svyatoslav Kaspe. – Polis. Political Studies. 2012. No2

Pastukhov V.B.,
«Perestroika» – second round. – Polis. Political Studies. 2011. No1

Pantin I.K.,
«Orange» pills for russian diseases. – Polis. Political Studies. 2010. No6

Bogaturov A.D.,
The Chinese Angle in the World-system Management. – Polis. Political Studies. 2019. No5


Screen version