German Institute for Global and Area Studies | Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien

Legitimate Multipolarity

Global governance institutions work differently under conditions of multipolarity. In a first step, in this project we investigate the legitimacy deficits of global governance institutions under conditions of multipolarity. In a second step, we analyse possible solutions to such problems put forward in rising powers’ foreign policy discourses. Legitimate Multipolarity adopts an empirical approach to the study of legitimacy and contributes to a global understanding of multilateralism’s merits, pitfalls – and prospects for reform.
DFG, 2018-2022

Team

Dr. Sinan Chu

Research Fellow

Prof. Dr. Heike Holbig

Associate

Prof. Dr. Amrita Narlikar

Former President

P. K. Gautam

Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses

Yaqing Qin

Head

Dr. Johannes Plagemann

Senior Research Fellow / Research Team Spokesperson

Research Questions

What are the legitimacy deficits of the WTO, AIIB, and G20 in terms of their rightful source of authority, performance, and articulations of dissent by member countries as evidenced in relevant public discourses? (RQ1) In how far do contemporary foreign policy discourses in China and India reflect upon and provide ideational resources for the resolution of legitimacy problems in global governance under conditions of multipolarity? (RQ2)

Contribution to International Research

Global governance institutions work differently under conditions of multipolarity. To some, non-western powers with their diverging political ideas, negotiating cultures, and interests threaten the functioning of global multilateralism. Others note that established institutions have failed to capture the rise of non-western powers in global affairs. In any case, more powerful non-western states make forging agreements in global governance institutions more difficult in some cases. At the same time, stronger voices from the non-western world promise to make global governance institutions more representative. Legitimate Multipolarity explores the rise of countries such as China and India and its effects on the legitimacy of global governance institutions.
We do so in two consecutive steps. First, we look into global public discourses of three particular global governance institutions over the course of the past decade, which together capture core elements of today’s multipolar constellation: The World Trade Organization, an established and inclusive global institution that looks increasingly dysfunctional; the G-20, an exclusive club of major powers that claims to be the “premier forum for international economic cooperation”; and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, a multilateral bank initiated by China. Adopting a truly “global approach” to research, we collect assessments of all three institutions’ legitimacy from the Philippines to Brazil and from Switzerland to South Africa.
In a second step, the project analyses possible solutions to legitimacy deficits from within the two most prominent “rising powers”, China and India. Systematically analyzing ideas expressed in foreign policies or emanating from political discourses (2009-2019) within China and India, Legitimate Multipolarity contributes to a global understanding of multilateralism’s merits, pitfalls – and prospects for reform.

Research Design and Methods

Legitimate Multipolarity adopts an empirical, not normative, approach to the study of legitimacy. From that perspective, legitimacy deficits of global governance institutions under conditions of multipolarity arise from members’ doubts about the rightful sources of authority, poor performance, and articulations of dissent. The project’s first work package (WP1) is composed of three case studies of individual global governance institutions – the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the Group of Twenty (G20), and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) – which together comprise key elements of our understanding of multipolarity. For each institution we outline legitimacy deficits as evidenced in relevant public discourses. We consider discourses within rising and established powers and developing countries as well as discourses at the trans- and international level. The second work package (WP2) critically examines potential solutions to legitimacy problems put forward from within the two most prominent rising powers, China and India. It does so by systematically analysing ideas expressed in foreign policies or emanating from discourses (2008-2016) within China and India.

Chapter in Edited Volume | 05/2024

Nichtwestliche Perspektiven in den Internationalen Beziehungen

Wie sollten wir durch die Beschäftigung mit Erfahrungen und Perspektiven aus dem Nichtwesten über die Mainstream- bzw. disziplinären Internationale Beziehungen hinausgehen? Der vorliegende Aufsatz untersucht die wichtigsten Forschungsprojekte der letzten beiden Jahrzehnte, die sich auf die Untersuchung „nichtwestlicher IB“ beziehen.

Dr. Sinan Chu

Research Fellow

International Studies Quarterly | 04/2024

In the Eyes of the Beholders: The Legitimacy of Global Governance Institutions under Multipolarity

We investigate how global publics evaluate the legitimacy of two GGIs—the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Group of Twenty (G20)—and multipolarity’s role in those evaluations.

Dr. Sinan Chu

Prof. Dr. Heike Holbig

Prof. Dr. Amrita Narlikar

Dr. Johannes Plagemann

GIGA Focus Africa | 6/2023

Africa’s Marginal Role in Germany’s First National Security Strategy

Africa barely features in Germany’s first National Security Strategy even though the coup in Niger once again demonstrated the continent’s importance for German foreign and security policy. Nonetheless, the strategy document provides important topical impetus for future partnerships with Africa.

Dr. Julia Grauvogel

Senior Research Fellow / Research Team Spokesperson

Millennium: Journal of International Studies | 2023

Fantastic Theories and Where to Find Them: Rethinking Interlocutors in Global IR

This article explores an alternative approach to engaging with non-Western IR theories, which the author refers to as the embedded observer approach.

Dr. Sinan Chu

Research Fellow

GIGA Focus Global | 5/2022

Driving the Wheels of History: The World after China’s 20th Party Congress

Just in time for President Xi Jinping’s return to the world stage, from which he had been absent for nearly three years of pandemic, the 20th Party Congress has set China’s ideological course. The paper analyses the foreign policy and security agenda Xi has in store.

Prof. Dr. Heike Holbig

Associate

Cooperation Event | 26/10/2019 - 27/10/2019

Legitimate Multipolarity and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)

Changing Asia 2019: Perspectives on Regional and Global Cooperation, Beijing Organisers: German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), China Foreign Affairs University, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, University of Virginia, Zeit-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius Dr. Sinan Chu (Speaker)

Dr. Sinan Chu

Research Fellow

Cooperation Event | 08/12/2020 - 10/12/2020

The Regional Stakes of India's Foreign Policy

The Regional Stakes of India's Foreign Policy, Online event, Hamburg Organisers: German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), Institute for Strategic Research at the Military School, Center for International Studies, SciencesPo Prof. Dr. Patrick Köllner (Chair, Moderator), Dr. Johannes Plagemann (Organiser), Ass. Prof. Dr. Raphaëlle Khan (Organiser), Dr. Christophe Jaffrelot (Chair), Prof. Dr. Amrita Narlikar (Chair, Moderator), Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz (Chair, Moderator)

International online conference in cooperation with Sciences Po/CERI and IRSEM, both Paris

Prof. Dr. Patrick Köllner

Dr. Johannes Plagemann

Ass. Prof. Dr. Raphaëlle Khan

Dr. Christophe Jaffrelot

Prof. Dr. Amrita Narlikar

Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz