Zhang Weiwei: on Multipolarity and Civilizational States

Zhang Weiwei (China), professor of international relations at Fudan University in Shanghai, addresses the participants and organizers the Global Conference on Multipolarity (29.04.2023).

Multipolarity and the Rise of Civilizational States

By Zhang Weiwei (Fudan Universtity)

On the eve of Chinese President Xi Jinpin’s visit to Russia on 19 March, I was interviewed by Russia Today, and I was asked how I viewed the Western heavy-handed sanctions against Russia, I said that Russia has been isolated by the West, and the West has been isolated by the rest. Why so? the reason is simple: while Russia’s military operation in Ukraine is controversial, one of Russia’s professed objectives is to change the multipolar world order led by the USA into a multipolar world order, and this objective is widely supported or at least understood by the non- Western world.

Their support for or understanding of this objective is buttressed by the fact that now major non-Western powers like China, Russia, India and Iran and more openly call themselves civilizational states. They may differ on how to define exactly the term civilizational state, yet they seem to agree on at least three themes, first, they are all respectively a unique civilization, and second, they are fed up with the Western imposition of its values on them in the name of “universal values” and third, they resist the Western interference in their internal affairs.

These rising civilizational states are indeed challenging the so-called liberal unipolar world order, and the world is thus witnessing a shifting global order from a vertical one, in which the West is above the rest, to a horizontal one, in which the West and the rest are on a par with each other in terms of wealth, power and ideas. Not to mention other non-Western powers, China alone has contributed more to world economic growth than G7 countries combined (38% vs 25%) over the past ten years. The US weaponization of US dollars in its sanctions against Russia has only led to ever more non-Western countries to abandon the use of dollars in their international trade, a huge blow to the existing unipolar economic order. Last year, 70% of Sino-Russian trade was made in their local currencies, and India, Brazil, Iran, Turkey, Indonesia and other major non-Western countries are all promoting trade in their local currencies.

It’s also ture that in international relations, Western powers have long pursued a strategy of “divide and rule” since the colonial times. In contrast, major non-Western powers, notably China, following its tradition of a civilizational state, pursues just the opposite, i.e. “unite and prosper” as shown in its massive Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which proves to be popular with most countries, and China also believes that this ideal of Unite and Prosper represents the best interests of the Chinese as well as most other peoples.

With Washington’s political power and moral authority waning fast both at home and abroad, it’s only natural for the non-Western countries to draw inspirations from their own cultures and civilizations as a way to distinguish themselves from the discredited American liberal model and its unipolar hegemony.

Interestingly, the idea of civilizational state is also appealing to many in the Western world. For instance, facing with the daunting challenges of Eureope’s “re-nationalization”, French president Macron almost openly admired the ideal of civilizational state when he referred to China, Russia and India as such examples and declared that France’s historic destiny was to guide Europe into a civilisational renewal.

For the Right in the West, the model of civilizational state is one way to defend traditional values and resist the excess of ultra-liberalism and widely perceived cultural degeneration, and for the Left, the model shows due respect for indigenous cultures and traditions as a way to reject Western imperialism and the excess of neo-liberalism.

Indeed, the rising civilisation-states of Eurasia define themselves mostly against the liberal West, while the West is now struggling to define its own identity, which seems harder than it is for China or Russia. For one thing, the liberals have long preached universal values beyond national or civilizational boundaries and believe their values are universal, neither Western, nor European, nor Judeo-Christian, yet as European political scientist Bruno Maçães claims that the liberal “West” is now dead, reflecting his sympathy for “a revolt against global rootlessness”.

However, can the West exist as an independent civilizational entity? British scholar Christoph Coker notes, “neither the Greeks nor sixteenth-century Europeans… regarded themselves as ‘Western’, a term which dates back only to the late eighteenth century.” Some Western liberals advocate a return to Europe’s Enlightenment, yet it was obvious that the Enlightenment liberalism with its universalizing tendencies led the West to its current dilemma, which have severed the West, and Europe particularly, from its own cultural roots, as Macaes notes “Western societies have sacrificed their specific cultures for the sake of a universal project.” Indeed, a culturally, socially and politically divided West, as is the case today, still has an uphill battle before shaping a common civilizational identity, if any.

In a medium-to-long term perspective, as the world order becomes increasingly more horizontal than vertical, and as the West and the rest, are more on a par with each other in terms of wealth, power and ideas, we are likely to witness the rise of more civilizational communities or states, self-claimed or genuine, of which there may well be a Western civilizational community on a par with other ones. Hopefully, the Western unilaterally defined “universal values” will be gradually replaced by certain common values endorsed by the whole international community such as peace, humanity, international solidarity and one human community, and all civilizational communities should make their contributions to this noble endeavor in the interest of all mankind.

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