On the afternoon of April 10, 2019, the Institute of International and Strategic Studies (IISS), Peking University (PKU) held the 32nd seminar of "North Pavilion Seminar" series. Dr. Bobo Lo, an internationally renowned expert on Sino-Russia relations, Russian diplomacy and security policy, gave a seminar entitled "Great Power Relations and the New World Disorder". The seminar was hosted by Guan Guihai, Executive Vice President of the IISS and Associate Professor of the School of International Studies (SIS), PKU.

In the seminar, Bobo Lo focused on five topics: (1) is the liberal world order coming to an end? (2) the concept of new world order/disorder; (3) great power relations in an era of uncertainties; (4) China-U.S.-Russia trilateral relations; (5) the future of global governance.

Bobo Lo believed that the liberal world order is falling into a decline, and the rule-based international system has lost its credibility. Although the existing world order is in crisis, there is no evidence that Western countries have prepared any alternatives for it. Meanwhile, non-Western countries, such as China and India, face many obstacles when establishing new rules and mechanisms. What we are facing today is a state of new world disorder characterized by lack of clarity, limited power of major powers, fragmentation of international rules, crisis of leadership, and decline of multilateralism.

Bobo Lo then analyzed in detail how great powers, represented by China, the U.S., and Russia, view the existing world order and multilateralism, as well as examined the Sino-U.S., Sino-Russia, and U.S-Russia bilateral relations. He held that the U.S.'s hostility toward China has exceeded the one that existed in the era prior to the normalization of Sino-U.S. relations. Anti-China sentiment is high in Washington. U.S.-Russian relations have also reached the lowest point since the early 1980s. Meanwhile, Bobo Lo stressed that China and Russia will maintain the strategic partnership, though they will not form an alliance. Russia and China are independent actors in the international arena. The two countries have different interests and priorities, and they have different visions toward the world order and Eurasia.

Bobo Lo finally pointed out that although Russia believes that the West is on decline while Russia is undergoing a revival, and a new multi-polar order is emerging, this idealized view is at odds with the new world disorder. The lesson that the current situation brings to people is: in the 21st century, only those countries that have the courage to learn their weaknesses and actively embrace change will prosper.

In the final discussion session, Dr. Bobo Lo had in-depth exchanges and discussions with teachers and students present at the seminar on issues such as the new world order and China's role in it, the China-U.S.-E.U. trilateral relations, and the global governance and absence of the U.S. in it. (Contributed by Zeng Chuyuan)

Editor: Li Fangqi, photography: Zheng Peijie