What it means to lead in a multipolar world

Horacio Falcão and Marc Le Menestrel

UNTIL not too long ago, those of us who subscribed wholeheartedly to a dominant Western narrative lived in the illusion of a unipolar world. Democracy, the rule of law, neoliberalism, globalisation, human rights, diversity, climate change and the Internet were considered good, correct or incontrovertible.

We wanted to believe that we had arrived at the “end of history” where, with just a bit more time and innovation, we would enjoy peace and prosperity forever. War, terrorism, discrimination, autocracy, nationalism, intolerance as well as other forms of social, economic and political divide were the unfortunate legacies of an undesirable past, a small bump on our road towards global enlightenment, and unthinkable on a larger scale.