Challenges to the Liberal International Order:China, Russia and the Reformist Perspectives

国际秩序的危机和加强在理论和实践中都很重要，因为它们反映了行为体改革国际秩序的倾向。近几十年来，多极化的出现和新行为体的增长占据了国际政治文献的大部分篇幅，人们急于解读新的大国融入国际体系的倾向。与主要基于现实主义视角并关注大国间霸权竞争的普遍观点相反，本论文旨在从自由主义和制度的角度论证可能的改革并加强秩序。为了全面理解这一问题，首先将从理论角度对国际秩序进行分析，并深入分析该体系内部发生的变化。将从其支柱，即权力结构、价值观和制度来研究当前的自由制度秩序。还将通过对中国和俄罗斯改革主义案例的研究，揭示不同行为体奉行的改革主义和修正主义政策，前者基于对多边和制度参与的有利态度，而后者则更多地归因于对秩序的现实主义和悲观主义观点。这些案例将用来说明多边主义和国际机构等关键支柱在未来几十年国际秩序演变中的核心地位。本论文认为，国际秩序的自由制度主义方法是在多极化和相互依存的国际秩序中保持稳定的唯一可行选择。

The crisis and the strengthening of the international order are important both in theory and in practice, as they reflect the propensity of actors to reform it. In recent decades, the emergence of multipolarity and the growth of new actors has occupied the literature of international politics, anxious to decipher the propensity of new and major powers to integrate themselves into the system. Contrary to the common view, based mostly on a realist vision and focused on hegemonic competition between the great powers, this thesis aims to argue for possible reforms and strengthening the order from a liberal and institutional perspective. In order to offer a comprehensive understanding of the issue first the international order will be analyzed by a theoretical perspective and from an in-depth analysis of the changes taking place within the system. The current liberal institutional order will be studied by its pillars, namely the power structure, its values and its institutions. Reformist and revisionist policies pursued by different actors will also be uncovered investigating the case of Chinese and Russian reformism, the first based on a favorable approach to multilateral and institutional engagement, while the other more attributable to a realist and pessimist perspective of the order. This cases will be used to illustrate the centrality that key pillars such as multilateralism and international institutions will maintain in the evolution of the future international order in the coming decades. This thesis argues that the liberal institutionalist approach to the international order is the only viable option to maintain stability in a multipolar and interdependent international order.