An old international system is receding and retreating... and a new one is delayed in its birth..

A reading on the transformations of the international system and the birth pangs of a post-hegemony world...

It is no longer possible to read the war in Ukraine, the Israeli aggression on Gaza, the military confrontation between Israel and Iran, the US-China rivalry, and the trade and technological wars as separate crises. They are interconnected links in a single historical context, titled: The decline of the international system formed after World War II, and the faltering birth of a new international system.

Since 1945, the international system has been based on a set of institutions and legal and political rules that were supposed to preserve international peace and security. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the world entered a unipolar phase led by the United States, which possessed military, economic, and technological superiority, and managed the global system according to its interests and alliances.

However, the last three decades have revealed the limits of this hegemony. Prolonged wars, financial crises, the rise of China, Russia's return to the international stage, and the emergence of influential regional powers such as India, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Brazil, are all factors that have reshaped the balance of power and weakened any single state's ability to lead the world alone.

The Russian-Ukrainian war confirmed that Western power, despite its magnitude, is no longer capable of resolving major conflicts. Then, the war on Gaza revealed the inability of the United Nations and the Security Council to stop a devastating war, protect civilians, or enforce the rules of international humanitarian law, amidst double standards and the use of veto power to serve political interests. As for the military confrontation between Israel and Iran, and the direct American intervention that accompanied it, it confirmed that the region has become part of a broader international conflict, and that traditional deterrence policy is no longer exclusive to one party.

These developments do not mean that the United States has lost its position as the world's greatest power, but they do mean that its ability to impose its will alone is no longer what it once was. In contrast, rising powers, primarily China and Russia, have not yet been able to build an alternative international system with established institutions and effective mechanisms for managing global crises.

Hence arises the great paradox: the old system is gradually losing its effectiveness and legitimacy, while the new system is not yet complete. In the vacuum between them, wars increase, crises expand, trust in international institutions declines, and the world becomes more turbulent and less capable of managing conflicts.

It is no coincidence that this phase coincides with a global race for artificial intelligence, semiconductors, energy, maritime corridors, and supply chains, as the conflict is no longer solely about geography, but about technology, economics, and control over the levers of power in the 21st century.

In this scene, the "BRICS" group and other emerging blocs stand out as an expression of a growing desire to build a more multipolar system. However, these powers, despite their expanding economic and political influence, still lack a unified vision and institutions capable of managing the international system or providing a comprehensive alternative to the existing system.

The Palestinian issue, meanwhile, has become one of the most important tests of the international system. What is happening in Gaza is no longer just a regional conflict, but has become a benchmark by which the extent of respect for international law, the credibility of UN institutions, and the ability of the international community to protect the principles upon which the global order was founded after World War II are measured. When these institutions fail to implement their resolutions, or protect civilians, the crisis is not just a crisis of Palestine, but a crisis of the international system itself.

Nevertheless, history teaches us that international systems do not collapse suddenly, nor do their alternatives emerge in an instant. The system that followed the Congress of Vienna, and then the system after the two World Wars, only took shape after years of conflicts and major transformations. What the world is witnessing today may be a similar historical birth pang, in which strategic competition intertwines with the redrawing of maps of influence and alliances.

The world stands at a crossroads today. Either the major powers succeed in building a more balanced and just system based on respect for international law and multilateral partnerships, or the transitional phase will be prolonged, with its accompanying wars, conflicts, and polarizations that threaten global security and stability.

The conclusion is that the world is not experiencing a fleeting crisis, but rather the end of an entire historical phase. The old international system is receding and retreating, but it has not completely fallen, and the birth of the new system is delayed, but it is slowly taking shape amidst the struggle of wills and the shifting balance of power. Between the decline of the old and the birth pangs of the new, the world is experiencing one of its most turbulent phases since the end of World War II, where the question is no longer: Will the international system change? But rather: Who will shape its new rules, and on what foundations of power, legitimacy, and justice will it be based?