Challenges to the global order

The ‘Liberal World Order’, under which we have lived for the past 30 years, has marked a remarkable period of calm in the evolution of international relations. Preceding it was a Machiavellian and Westphalian world in which sovereign states competed ruthlessly for power, and regularly went to war.

The bankruptcy of this system was made appallingly apparent by the linked calamities of the First and Second World Wars. This led directly to efforts – Woodrow Wilson’s 14 Points, The League of Nations, the UN – to introduce an approach to international order based more on rules and institutions and less on force. Those efforts seemed to reach fulfilment with the end of the Cold War. We have since seen the total military dominance of the United States, the spread of democracy, expanded international attention to breaches of human rights, rapid economic globalisation, and fast growing recourse to international law and institutions as the means to manage problems between states – in short the so called ‘Liberal World Order’.

But within the past decade that system has come under increasing strain. Both China and Russia have shown themselves ready to challenge US dominance. The rise of China in particular threatens a resurrection of great power competition in very much its old Cold War form. Meanwhile the rise of Islamism in the Middle East, and the chaos it has brought, have underlined the inability of the US and other powers to maintain global order and standards. Finally, the linchpin of the system, the US itself, is showing growing signs of unwillingness to continue in the role of ‘Global Policeman’ which has held the whole system together.

We look at this history, current trends, and ask whether we may be heading back towards a Machiavellian world.

Learning outcomes:

1. An understanding of what the ‘Liberal World Order’ is, and how it evolved;
2. An understanding of the threats it now faces;
3. Some insight into the developments to look out for over the next few years.

Session titles:

1. Rise of the Liberal World Order
2. Russia
3. Middle East
4. China
5. Sheriff hands in his Star 

All course content will be delivered online via the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). You will be taught largely through a series of pre-recorded talks (which may be audio and/or video), designed to help you address different aspects of the main topic. You will normally have access to a range of useful resources and suggested activities.

There will also be an element of interactive work, and the opportunity for you to engage in written form with other course participants and discuss questions set by the Course Director via the Course Forum. The Course Director will generally respond to a selection of key questions and comments on a daily basis.

This course will also have elements of optional live discussions via Zoom. Further details will be available via our VLE site.

There are no pre-requisites for courses, unless specified, and all are open to adult learners over 18 years old. Courses are taught at approximately first-year undergraduate level.

Content will be made available on each day of the course, Monday to Friday, from 8.00am BST. Course content will normally amount to c 1.5hrs per day across the 5 days, comprising of material delivered by the Course Director and activities/reading set, which would include discussions via the course forum. You may also need to complete reading or other preparation suggested in advance of the course.

We therefore suggest that you set aside approximately 1.5 hours of study per day to complete each day’s content and activities. However, this does not need to be done in one sitting, and you have the flexibility to access content when and where you want, and to go back and review it as often as you wish. Each course runs for one week and content will remain available to access on the VLE for 2 weeks after the course has finished.

A Certificate of Participation for the course(s) will be sent electronically, upon request via email, after the end of the Summer Festival. Details will be provided on the VLE.