Fork or Bump in the Road? The Crisis of the Rules-Based Global Order and the Robustness of International Institutions

Many international institutions are facing challenges due to changes in domestic politics and global power shifts. In this literature review, we ask whether international institutions are sufficiently robust to cope with a contested world in transition. We note that while changes in domestic politics and global power shifts put the liberal vision of a global order under pressure, the literature does not clearly show that the forces of populism and the rising powers uniformly challenge the rules-based global order. We also find that some international institutions have been surprisingly robust in the face of such challenges. Therefore the literature appears to indicate that we need to develop a better understanding – both conceptually and empirically – of how specific international institutions are challenged, how they cope with pressures, and what impact this has on their longer-term effectiveness and democracy in global governance.