Global Power Shifts: Jaishankar Says Old World Order ‘Clearly Unravelling'
According to the minister, three interconnected forces are reshaping global affairs: globalisation, rebalancing, and multipolarity.
Global Power Shifts: Jaishankar Says Old World Order ‘Clearly Unravelling’
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, about the current international landscape, has said that the global order established about 80 years ago is “clearly unravelling”; it reflects profound shifts in geopolitical and economic influence since the aftermath of World War II. On December 20, 2025, while addressing the convocation of Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, Jaishankar made these remarks.
The minister described today’s world as being in a state of transition and stressed that it is increasingly difficult to draw a definitive picture of global realities because “so much of it is in transition.” He said that the traditional global order, which emerged at the end of the Second World War and was shaped by institutions and dominant powers of that era, is no longer holding in the same way it once did. He added that this unravelling is driven by changing politics and policies among individual nations, especially influential ones, and by broader structural shifts.
According to the minister, three interconnected forces are reshaping global affairs: globalisation, rebalancing, and multipolarity, all of which have been accelerated by technological advancement. He explained that the outcome is an international system in which multiple centres of power and influence have emerged, rather than one in which a small set of states can dictate outcomes on all global issues. “No country, however powerful, can impose its will on all issues,” he said, highlighting the rise of natural competition between nations and a more complex equilibrium of interests.
The minister also emphasised how globalisation has fundamentally changed how nations think and work, urging that larger economies like India’s must build modern and meaningful manufacturing capabilities to stay technologically relevant. According to officials, his comments reflect India’s broader strategic messaging on multipolarity and strategic autonomy at a time of shifting global alignments.
Jaishankar’s address encapsulates a narrative of a world moving beyond a unipolar or Western-led paradigm toward more distributed power and influence, with India positioning itself firmly within that evolving matrix of global forces.
Source: Hindustan Times