Why Not Condemn China and Russia? Global South Reactions to Norm Contestation and Implications for the LIO
Datos Bibliográficos
| ID | 8251989 |
|---|---|
| Autores | Hengfeng Zhao (0009-0005-6502-9861, University of Leeds, autor de correspondencia) |
| Año | 2026 |
| Volumen | 6 |
| Número | 1 |
| Fecha de publicación | 2026-01-15 |
| Peer Reviewed | Sí |
| Open Access | Sí |
| Tipo | ARTICLE |
| Revista | Global Studies Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Identificadores de la revista | ISSN: 2634-3797 • E-ISSN: 2634-3797 |
| Editorial | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/isagsq/ksaf116 |
| OpenAlex | W7125477372 |
| Idioma | EN |
| Citas recibidas | 1 |
| Referencias citadas | 106 |
The liberal international order (LIO) is transitioning, marked by rising non-Western powers and norm contestation. However, current research often overlooks how varying reactions to norm contestation shape this process. This raises two questions: Why do states differ in their responses to norm challenges, and what implications do these patterns hold for the LIO? This study addresses this gap by advancing a theoretical framework that positions reactions to norm contestations as key indicators of order transition, arguing that patterns of alignment and divergence reveal fluctuating norm strength and signal an order’s transitionality. Employing fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), the study analyzes 28 non-Western middle powers’ responses to Russia’s actions in Ukraine (2022) and Crimea (2014) and China’s human rights practices in Xinjiang and Tibet. The analysis identifies four pathways to norm alignment or acquiescence, highlighting the combined influence of external dependency on China or Russia, regime type, membership in non-Western organizations, and post-colonial experience. Findings reveal a disparity between responses to sovereignty challenges, which are increasingly condemned, and human rights controversies, where tolerance or even support for alternative interpretations is growing, suggesting a fragmentation of the human rights (sub)order. This research contributes a novel theoretical framework for analyzing the LIO’s transition, demonstrating how oscillating norm strength, reflected in reactions to norm contestations, provides crucial insights into the processual nature of order change and the potential emergence of alternative normative structures
China · Human rights · Norm (philosophy) · Normative · Qualitative analysis · Sovereignty · Global Security and Public Health · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Qualitative Comparative Analysis Research
Sovereignty
Redesigning Social Inquiry
SetMethods
What you export matters
The war in Ukraine, the Global South and the evolving global order
Qualitative Comparative Analysis Using R
QCA with R
Studying configurations with qualitative comparative analysis
The Comparative Method
Configurational Comparative Methods
Set-Theoretic Methods for the Social Sciences
QCA in International Relations
Authoritarian Powers and Norm Contestation in the Liberal International Order
Norms under Challenge
Measuring Norms and Normative Contestation
Shame, endorse, or remain silent
Activating norm collisions
Liberal-democratic norms under contestation
Mnemonic Soft Power
Hidden Strings Attached? Chinese (Commercially Oriented) Foreign Aid and International Political Alignment
What Friends are Made of
Soft Power, Religion, and Anti-Americanism in the Middle East
The South in “Global IR”
Understanding Resilience in International Relations
What Isn't a Norm? Redefining the Conceptual Boundaries of “Norms” in the Human Rights Literature
Contributions and Blind Spots of Constructivist Norms Research in International Relations, 1980–2018
Conceptualizing sovereignty in Russian foreign policy
The Dual Quality of Norms and Governance beyond the State
The Russia-Ukraine war and the Global South’s sovereignty paradox
Russia as a Norm Entrepreneur
The dynamics of emerging middle-power influence in regional and global governance
Russia and the Collective Security Treaty Organisation
China’s ‘New International Order’
Who’s Socialising Whom? Regional Organisations and Contested Norms in Central Asia
The Uses of Sovereignty in Twenty-first Century Russian Foreign Policy
Denaturalizing the Monroe Doctrine
After Liberal Hegemony
Punishing the violators? Arms embargoes and economic sanctions as tools of norm enforcement
On the meaning(s) of norms
Canary in the coal mine? China, the Unga, and the changing world order
China in a World of Orders
Identity and world order in India’s post-Cold War foreign policy discourse
Idea-shift’
BRICS member states as norm entrepreneurs
The onset of BRICS cooperation on climate change
A Role Theory Approach to Middle Powers
European Reactions to the 2008 Georgian–Russian War
Subversive Narratives and Status-Seeking
Rhetorical adaptation, normative resistance and international order-making
Transitional Orders in World Politics
Thoroughly reforming them towards a healthy heart attitude
From Europeanisation to Diffusion
Norms, Institutions, and National Identity in Contemporary Europe
Struggles for Recognition
Elite Perceptions of a China-Led Regional Order in Southeast Asia
Of the contemporary global order, crisis, and change
Buying Influence? Assessing the Political Effects of China’s International Trade
The endurance of the G77 in international relations
Norm Subsidiarity and Regional Orders
Treating International Institutions as Social Environments
Do Intergovernmental Organizations Have a Socialization Effect on Member State Preferences? Evidence from the UN General Debate
The Co-Constitution of Order
International Norm Dynamics and Political Change
International organizations as teachers of norms
Which norms matter? Revisiting the “failure” of internationalism
Stigma Management in International Relations
Challenges to the Liberal Order
Hierarchy and Judicial Institutions
The Distribution of Identity and the Future of International Order
Legitimacy and Authority in International Politics
Do the CIS member states share foreign policy preferences
When Do International Organizations Engage in Agency Slack? A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of United Nations Institutions
Contestation in a World of Liberal Orders
Bloc Politics at the UN
A Right to Solidarity. World Ordering from the Margins through International Law
World Ordering from the Margins
The Impact of the Belt and Road Initiative on Chinese International Political Influence
Conceptualizing and assessing norm strength in International Relations
Disentangling norms, morality, and principles
Norm structure, diffusion, and evolution
Dynamics of International Norm Change
Crisis in the laws of war? Beyond compliance and effectiveness
Rethinking the life cycles of international norms
Why norms rarely die
How Do Norms Travel? Theorizing International Women's Rights in Transnational Perspective1
How Ideas Spread
Are the New International Forums of the Global South anti-Western? Notes from historical and institutional perspectives * Os Novos Fóruns Internacionais do Sul Global são anti-ocidentais? Notas a partir das perspectivas histórica e institucional
Emerging middle powers and the liberal international order
Battle over the box
The dynamics of dissent
The end of liberal international order
Military intervention as a spectacle? Authoritarian regionalism and protests in Kazakhstan
A Robustness Test Protocol for Applied QCA
Heroes of the developing world? Emerging powers in WTO agriculture negotiations and dispute settlement
| Obras citantes distintas | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citas por año | 1 |
| Intervalo de citas | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Velocidad de citación | current |
| Altamente citado | No |
| Tipos de cita | Neutras: 1 |