Knowra International order International order International order is the arrangement of power, rules, institutions, and relationships that structures interactions among states and other global actors.
Sovereignty : The principle that a political authority exercises supreme power within a territory and is independent of external control. Sovereignty defines who counts as an independent authority within the order.
Peace of Westphalia : The 1648 treaties that ended the Thirty Years’ War in the Holy Roman Empire and reshaped European political arrangements. It became a landmark settlement in accounts of sovereign state relations.
Liberal internationalism : An approach to international relations that favors cooperation through law, institutions, democracy, and collective action. It sees institutional cooperation as a basis for an order beyond raw power.
Collective security : A security arrangement in which participants treat aggression against one as a concern for all. It offers a rules-based response to threats against the order.
Global South : A broad political and economic grouping of countries, many in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, with diverse histories and interests. Its states challenge inherited inequalities in representation and rule-making.
Balance of power : A distribution of power in which states counter one another to prevent any one state from dominating. Shifts in relative power can preserve or overturn an international order.
Congress of Vienna : The 1814–1815 diplomatic conference that reorganized Europe after the Napoleonic Wars. Its settlement established a durable balance among Europe’s major powers.
Realism : A tradition in international relations that emphasizes states, power, national interests, and competition under anarchy. It explains order chiefly through power and states’ calculations, rather than shared rules.
International trade : The exchange of goods and services across national borders. Trade rules and institutions are among the order’s most visible economic effects.
United States–China relations : The strategic, economic, and diplomatic relationship between the United States and the People’s Republic of China. Their rivalry tests whether existing institutions can adapt to a changing power balance.
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