Even though the twentieth century has ended chronologically, from a historical point of view the twenty-first has yet to begin. The order established over the last century, fundamentally shaken by the groundswell following the fall of the Berlin Wall, has clearly been cast aside, but nothing has yet replaced it. The 2008-09 financial crisis and the aftermath that hit national economies were global crises that could well be initial signs of an emerging new world order. Certain indications of this can already be seen, such as the institutionalisation of an enlarged group of leading states, the G20. But that is only structure and we can see perfectly well that, for the moment at least, reality lies beyond its control. Nevertheless, behind the visible facts and structures, certain forces are already at work. The creation of a lasting community structure, in this case an international one, relies on a number of rules about how we should live together, which simply have to be accepted (willingly or otherwise, depending on whether one lives in a democracy or not). The multilateral rules of the past are being called into question, but could there nevertheless be some basic tenets that might provide the foundation stones of a new world order? If so, what are they, and who is promoting them—international institutions, states, groups of states, the new Sino-US partnership or markets? If the latter, what are these markets?

The Current State of Affairs

Interdependence is without question the key word in the early twenty-first century worlds of economics, politics, science, technology, culture, health and the environment. Because of this interdependence, many unresolved problems have been carried over from the twentieth century, their resolution made more complex by their multifaceted and ever-changing nature. Notable among them is how our planetary resources should be adapted to demography and to the increasing needs of the population. Further consequences are the blurring of traditional distinctions between public and private and the creation of new links between states and private players, which lead to a confusion of roles when attempting to apply the few rules of world governance that exist.

The background to all this is the extraordinary growth in means of information, communication and acquisition of knowledge. It affects everything else and contributes to the creation of centres of power outside the institutions that were once created to maintain control over such means. This growth in information sharing has led to a great simplification of exchanges that favour scientific, technical and cultural development, as well as to decentralisation of research and creation of knowledge. In addition, this growth in communication has been fundamental to the success of certain worldwide concepts such as sustainable development and the formation of opinion and reaction, but also to their surveillance and manipulation.