Post-Liberal Multipolarism and Diverse Security Narratives of the Global South

Economic and security challenges of some of the newly rising countries, such as China or India and others in Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa show that the current international system is in a transition from a "unipolar moment" to the age which many leaders call "multipolarism". Until today, multipolarism was associated with diversification within the West, integrated European Union, rise of Japan and other Asian Tigers, and spread of free market-driven globalization and liberal democracy. This multipolarism was liberal and multinational, and was consistent with the post-World War II, and post Cold War narratives of declining US-led "benign" hegemony.
After the Ukrainian War, alternate voices of multipolarism have started to resonate within the Global South. These common calls for a post-Western or post-liberal multipolarism with wide diversity. Russian narratives of multipolarism reflect its deeply anti-liberal, ultra-nationalist and imperialist tendencies. The Chinese version sticks to the narrative of sovereignty and is far less committed to a block mentality. Rising number of countries rely on populist appeals or election manipulation, and openly mock democratic values. But these narratives are not integral nor united, and often may contradict each other.
Utilizing various methodological approaches, the presentations in this panel aim at providing analysis of diverse narratives of multipolarism, and deriving political and security implications in the changing global order and within different regional contexts. They will contribute to both theoretical and policy-related discussions on the role of emerging regional powers, relational dynamics between diverse civilization centers and potentialities for future global governance.