Global Geopolitics invites contributions for its inaugural issue examining the concept, dynamics, and implications of multipolarity in global affairs.

Since the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, the world order has been shaped by a unipolar dynamic —whether perceived or actual— with the United States positioned as the unrivaled leader in terms of economic power, global governance, cultural influence, and military dominance. However, multipolarity debates have significantly accelerated throughout the 2020s, driven by developments such as China's rapid rise as the world’s second-largest economy, deepening geostrategic tensions with Russia, and the emergence of alternative governance mechanisms like BRICS, SCO, AIIB, and the Eurasian Economic Union. Certainly, Trump's second term as U.S. president further intensifies this process, exacerbating geopolitical fragmentation and accelerating the global shift toward multipolarity.

This special issue seeks to explore multipolarity's theoretical underpinnings, practical manifestations, and potential trajectories. It aims to provide a platform for critical reflection on whether multipolarity signifies an enduring shift in global power, introduces new complexities and risks to international stability, or creates opportunities for more balanced global governance and cooperation.

We welcome submissions addressing the following themes and questions, though we encourage innovative approaches beyond these suggestions:
- Theorizing Multipolarity: Conceptual frameworks for understanding multipolarity in historical and contemporary contexts.
- Critical Perspectives on Multipolarity: Skepticism about multipolarity’s emergence, its sustainability, or its ability to provide global stability.
- Unilateralism vs. Multilateralism: Tensions between unipolar and multipolar forces in shaping global governance.
- Multipolarity and Multilateralism: Exploring their interplay and whether multipolarity can foster greater multilateral collaboration.
- Challenges to Established Governance Mechanisms: Multipolarity’s implications for institutions like the IMF, World Bank, NATO, and the EU.
- Alternative Governance Mechanisms: Evaluating the roles of BRICS, SCO, AIIB, Belt-Road Initiative, CELAC, and similar initiatives in a multipolar world.
- U.S. Leadership and Multipolarity: Prospects for and responses to the decline of U.S. leadership in a multipolar context.
- Stability vs. Instability: Does multipolarity inherently lead to instability and conflict, or can it offer a foundation for a more equitable global order?
Cultural Multipolarity: How multipolarity challenges Western-centric norms, artistic influences, and cultural hegemonies.
- Alternative Value Systems: The relevance of Asian values and other non-Western frameworks in a multipolar world.
- Social Movements and Unipolarity: How social (and political) movements contest unipolar and unilateral global orders.
- Economic and Financial Dynamics: The impact of multipolarity on global trade, the dollar's dominance, and financial governance.
- Multipolarity and Technology: The role of technological decoupling and innovation in shaping a multipolar landscape.
- Historical Comparisons: Lessons from past power shifts, such as the transition from British to American dominance.
- Regional Perspectives: The role of specific regions or nations in shaping and adapting to multipolar dynamics.