© Stefan Rousseau - Pool / Getty ImagesG7 leaders European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrive for the family photo at the Itsukushima Shrine during the G7 Summit.
Asynchronous multipolarity: governing parameters and directions of development
Since the late 1990s, multipolarity has been a key focus in Russia's foreign policy doctrine. A more balanced world has been seen as a counterweight to the global hegemony of the US and its allies. Thus, modern international relations were considered to be effectively in transition from unipolarity, with Washington losing its grip on dominance, to a more just and pluralistic system. This new dawn was supposed to rely, on the one hand, on the fundamental role of the UN and, on the other, on the authority and sovereignty of leading great powers, including Russia itself.
The idea of multipolarity has gained traction among many large countries, such as India and China. Even Western experts haven't dismissed the possibility. In a way, it has been slowly morphing into an idealized picture of a future world order.
Meanwhile, a multipolar world is becoming a reality. We are living in a new system, the rules of which we do not fully comprehend. If we want to make sense of this reality, we must first have a clear idea of what exactly we mean by the description. The current state of affairs could be described as "asynchronous multipolarity."
As a matter of fact, this transition towards a new world order is happening in different areas of international relations at different speeds. It can't just begin on a given Monday or Thursday. Some of its elements will be in place before others.
Comment: It's possible that China is sending the US a message, meanwhile the US still can't quite believe that it is no longer able to provoke countries as it pleases.