From rupture to re-ordering: Middle powers and Europe’s choices 

The international system is no longer held together by a single dominant vision of order. While the US is retreating from its dominant role, China and Russia are advancing competing models of order. In this context, middle powers are actively pursuing new strategies to secure their autonomy and expand their influence. They are challenging established hierarchies, reshaping economic and connectivity networks, and building alternative forms of cooperation that do not rely on Western leadership and involvement. From infrastructure corridors to conflict management and development finance, these players and their actions are generating new sources of order in an increasingly entropic system. 

Drawing on insights from the recent ECFR policy brief After the rupture: Middle powers and the construction of new order, this webinar explores how rising and middle powers are responding to the decline of the old order and evaluates the potential of new initiatives to create legitimate and effective forms of cooperation.  The discussion will consider how middle powers are expanding their freedom of action and influence through new conflict-mediation styles, reconfigured connectivity networks and new approaches to development governance. The webinar will also explain how Europe should seize the opportunities these emerging formats present to shape outcomes, partnering pragmatically rather than clinging to a dying order. 

The event is being organized as part of ECFR’s Re:Order project. The Re:Order project is funded by Stiftung Mercator.