Contemporary Centres of Power and Global Order
Contemporary Centres of Power and Global Order
The exam tests how power is distributed after the Cold War and how the EU, ASEAN, China, Japan, Russia, India and groupings such as BRICS and the Quad shape order. Expect classification questions: is a body a state, an alliance, or a forum?
Core rules and concepts
- The EU has 27 members after Brexit. It is neither a state nor a mere free-trade area: it has a single market, common policies, a European Parliament and the euro, but foreign and defence policy remain largely intergovernmental.
- ASEAN was founded in Bangkok in 1967 and has ten members. Its method is consultation, consensus and non-interference; it is not an EU-style supranational body.
- China's rise rests on market reforms from 1978, WTO entry in 2001, manufacturing, BRI and bodies such as AIIB. Its UNSC veto and economic weight make it a centre of power.
- BRICS began as a summit grouping in 2009 and added South Africa in 2010; it has the New Development Bank and contingent reserve arrangement, but it is not a military alliance. It expanded in 2024.
- Japan is an economic power with constitutional limits on its military and a security treaty with the US. Russia retains nuclear and energy leverage. India practices multi-alignment.
- Global order debates: unipolarity versus multipolarity; G20, SCO and Quad; multilateral institutions under stress.
Worked example
Is the EU a state? Reasoning: member states keep constitutions, armies and foreign ministries; the EU has pooled competences in trade, competition and monetary policy for euro members. Because decision rules differ by policy area, the EU is best classified as a sui generis supranational-intergovernmental hybrid.
Traps
Calling BRICS an anti-Western military bloc; treating ASEAN as an EU copy; assuming all EU members use the euro or join Schengen; reducing global order to a US-China duel.