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On February 12, 2026, “Horizons”, a journal of international relations and sustainable development (WINTER 2026/ISSUE NO. 33), published an article by Dmitry Trenin, Lead Researcher of the Center for International Security of IMEMO, Cand. of Science (History), "The Architecture of Rivalry". Power Politics in the Post-Western Age.

While the discourse regarding a “new world order” has yielded certain insights, it remains largely premature. To be sure, the post-Cold War unipolar moment has passed, as has the global hegemony of U.S. liberal democracy. A polycentric reality – often erroneously labeled “multipolarity” – is already upon us. Yet, it lacks a foundational order to underpin it; instead, the international system is defined by intense rivalry across multiple strata. We are unequivocally in a state of transition. It will take time for these competing powers to accommodate themselves to a new global distribution of power and establish a successor order. Until such an equilibrium is reached, contestation will prevail – ideally without precipitating global catastrophe.

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