Summary Report No.161: Reconstituting or Replacing the International Liberal Order?

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This Policy Brief summarises the main themes which emerged at a Toda Peace Institute policy retreat held in May 2023. The retreat aimed to identify new research directions for institutes concerned with world affairs and global governance. As the centre of gravity of world affairs shifts to the Asia Pacific, and as both China and India rise as great powers, Western liberal democracies, free market economies and the Anglosphere may lose their dominance. These developments coincide with the crumbling of the international arms control order and the partial eclipse of global and regional institutions. International institutions appear to lack sufficient capacity to manage pandemics, climate change, and the new global security challenges. What new norms and policy measures and institutional changes can bend the arc of history away from confrontation and towards a more desirable future?