3 Recent Trends in Contemporary International Relations

1. Multipolarization and great-power competition — the US–China rivalry as the organizing axis; middle powers (India, Japan, EU, Turkey, Gulf states) hedging;2. The return of war in Europe and the challenge to the UN Charter order — Ukraine (2022–) testing collective security, sanctions and neutrality;3. Weaponized interdependence — sanctions, export controls, curbs on technology and finance; economic security replacing pure efficiency;4. Regionalism's rise — ASEAN, the African Union, the Gulf, BIMSTEC's reactivation, SAARC's stasis (contrasts worth learning — Unit 4);5. Climate and green transition politics — climate finance, loss and damage, energy geopolitics;6. Digital and technology domains — cyber conflict, AI competition, data governance; "cyber sovereignty" debates;7. Migration and demography — South–South and South–North flows (a Nepali core interest given its labour migration economy);8. Non-state and sub-state agency — MNCs, cities, diasporas, transnational activism;9. The crisis of multilateralism — WTO paralysis, Security Council gridlock, reform debates; minilateral alternatives (QUAD, I2U2, etc.);10. Human security's mainstreaming — pandemics, climate and food insecurity reframing security itself (Unit 3).