PR-2018: The First Session "New Bipolarity" – Myth or Reality?"

The first session " New Bipolarity" - Myth or Reality?" — touched upon the problems of crisis of supranational and international institutions, as well as the appropriateness of the very concept of "bipolarity" in contemporary international relations.

The expert from Austria said that Russia and China are moving towards establishing a new world order; however, it is too early to talk about the formation of a "new bipolarity".

The expert from the United States disagreed, stressing that "competing bipolarity" is developing in the world, which will lead to a "new multipolarity". The representative from the PRC noted that China is in isolation, which Russia helps to overcome to some extent. In his opinion, the role of the new institutions, in the formation of which China is involved, is important, and that is whyChina’s tactics might be somehow offensive. The representative of China did not rule out the possibility of conflicts between Washington and Beijing. From the Chinese point of view, the new bipolarity is unacceptable and it is preferable to strive for the formation of blocks.

According to the Indian expert, the state of world politics can be defined as "multiple multipolarity".

The Russian participant of the session, in his turn, drew attention to the fact that the forming system is not only a polycentric and hierarchical, but also unstable: on the one hand, there is a growing interdependence, on the other — increasing competitiveness. This trend shows the inconsistency of the dual logic of bipolarity and encourages the need to develop a new language of diplomacy.