Zhao Long: Deeply Understanding the Contemporary Significance of Safeguarding the Victories of World War II and the Post-War International Order
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War, as well as the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War. It also marks the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. Eighty years ago, China and the Soviet Union were the first to sign the Charter of the United Nations, joining key members of the Anti-Fascist Alliance to raise the curtain on building an international system with the United Nations at its core. Recently, President Xi Jinping noted in a signed article titled "Taking History as a Mirror to Jointly Create the Future" published in Rossiyskaya Gazeta: "Around the end of World War II, the most important decision made by the international community was the establishment of the United Nations." From May 7 to 10, President Xi Jinping conducted a state visit to Russia and attended the celebrations commemorating the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union’s Great Patriotic War. During the visit, the two heads of state jointly signed and issued the Joint Statement of the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation on Further Deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Coordination for a New Era on the Occasion of the 80th Anniversary of the Victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the Great Patriotic War and the Founding of the United Nations. This issued a powerful call of the times: the victories of World War II are not to be challenged, the post-war international order must be resolutely maintained, and international fairness and justice must be defended. Amidst the current international situation characterized by intertwined changes and turbulence [1], we must deeply understand the epochal significance of safeguarding the victories of World War II and the post-war international order.
Safeguarding the victories of World War II requires major powers to jointly shoulder the responsibilities of the era
As an unprecedented catastrophe in human history, the victory of the Second World War was not only a great achievement of justice over evil and civilization over barbarism, but it also possessed profound historical necessity and progressiveness. The victory did more than end the grave threat posed by militarism and fascism to world peace; upon the scarred ruins, it catalyzed a profound reflection by human society on the lessons of war and a firm determination to reshape the international order. From establishing the framework of global international organizations like the United Nations to refining the foundational rules of the international legal system; from constructing a stable architecture for major-power coordination to the gradual formation of a collaborative network for the global governance system—every step is deeply inscribed with the mark of the WWII victory. These steps consolidate the international community's unremitting pursuit of the dawn of peace, its persistent adherence to the values of justice, and its eternal longing for a stable order.
The international system with the UN at its core is the concentrated expression of the victories of World War II; moreover, it is a sturdy barrier and institutional support protecting humanity from the tragedy of world war. Eighty years ago, China and key members of the Anti-Fascist Alliance deliberated on the establishment of the UN and drafted and signed the UN Charter, opening a historical chapter of joint peace-building and shared development. This system embodies consultation, consensus, and multilateral co-governance, reflecting the institutional embryonic form of the trend toward the democratization of international relations [2]. Looking back over the past decades, the UN has played a core role in maintaining international peace and security, providing an important guarantee for the world's overall peace, stability, and prosperity.
Currently, the authority and effectiveness of the international system face unprecedented challenges. On one hand, unilateralism and bullying tactics are rampant. Certain countries, under the banner of "Country First," undermine the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, selectively apply or attempt to distort basic principles of international law, and—without Security Council authorization or a basis in international law—indiscriminately impose unilateral sanctions, including secondary sanctions, based on their domestic laws. By placing domestic law above international law and international obligations, they violate basic principles such as sovereign equality and non-interference in internal affairs, seriously weakening the authority of the international system. On the other hand, the global "four deficits"—the peace deficit, development deficit, security deficit, and governance deficit [3]—are intensifying. However, certain countries cling to a Cold War mentality of zero-sum games, creating various "small circles" [4] and "value alliances" to advocate for bloc confrontation. This has led to increasing doubts in the international community regarding the "failure" of the UN, the "malfunction" of international law, and the "disability" of multilateralism, making it difficult to synchronize the "breaking of the old" and the "establishment of the new" within the global governance system.
President Xi Jinping has pointed out: "The more the international situation is characterized by intertwined changes and turbulence, the more we must persist in and safeguard the authority of the United Nations and firmly safeguard the international system with the UN at its core." Safeguarding the authority and effectiveness of this system requires all member states to demonstrate a responsible attitude and fulfill their due obligations; major powers, in particular, must lead by example. As a founding member of the UN and a permanent member of the Security Council, China has consistently and firmly supported the Security Council in playing its primary role in matters of peace and security. China is the permanent member of the Security Council that dispatches the most peacekeepers, the second-largest contributor to the UN regular budget and peacekeeping assessments, and has joined almost all universal intergovernmental international organizations and more than 600 international conventions, concluding over 27,000 bilateral treaties. Simultaneously, as major world powers, China and Russia follow the correct path of non-alignment, non-confrontation, and not targeting third parties. They continue to collaborate closely within the framework of the Security Council, the UN General Assembly, and relevant agencies to effectively safeguard UN authority and stabilize the UN's core position in coordinating the interests of all countries and uniting to meet contemporary challenges, thereby playing an exemplary role in safeguarding the international system.
At present, faced with challenges to the system's authority and effectiveness, major powers must break through geopolitical "small circles" and transcend small cliques of conflict and confrontation. They must clearly oppose all attempts to distort the victories of WWII, subvert the principles of the post-war international order, or weaken the UN's core role. Within the framework of UN institutions, they should carry out closer coordination and promote lasting and just solutions to global issues based on observing the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and balancing the interests of all parties.
Safeguarding the post-war international order requires following the epochal trend of world multipolarity
Observed from the perspective of historical materialism, the post-war international order is not a static historical specimen but is continuously undergoing shifts in its objective environment and institutional norms within a dynamic process of evolving international landscapes, reshaped power balances, and changing themes of the times. In the passage of eighty years, the Yalta System and the bipolar pattern that once constituted the post-war order have long since ended; mechanisms born of Cold War confrontation, such as the Warsaw Pact and the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, no longer exist. Since the end of the Cold War, the tide of world multipolarity has surged forward, and economic globalization has expanded in depth. Peace, development, cooperation, and win-win results have become the irresistible trend of the times. This "right path of the human world" [5] embodies the common expectations of the vast majority of countries and is the inevitable direction of the laws of historical development and the logic of human progress.
Despite the international community's consensus on opposing unilateralism, resisting power politics, and remaining vigilant against bloc confrontation and zero-sum games, a broad agreement has not yet been reached on the specific path toward world multipolarity or the construction of the future world architecture. It is worth warning that certain countries are mired in the quagmire of hegemonic thinking. Under the banner of a "rules-based international order," they seek excuses for practicing double standards and exceptionalism, using the restriction of other countries' sovereignty and developmental space as a means to maintain hegemonic status—diverging from the epochal trend of world multipolarity and the democratization of international relations. For example, NATO, as a legacy of the Cold War, continues to expand its sphere of influence and fabricate narratives of geopolitical conflict. Furthermore, some countries, citing the mitigation of security risks, overstretch the concept and boundaries of national security, alienating economics, trade, and technology into tools for political manipulation. By instigating "tariff wars," "trade wars," and "tech wars," they bridgeably destroy the market-oriented, WTO-centered, and rules-based multilateral trading system. Wielding the "big stick" of sanctions to sever global supply and industrial chains, their anti-globalization actions have become a target of universal public criticism.
In 2023, the Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs pointed out: "In response to the series of major issues and challenges facing the world today, we advocate for an equal and orderly world multipolarity and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization." Among these, "equal and orderly world multipolarity" represents our country's regular understanding [6] and constructive response to the path and direction of the future world architecture. By "equal," we mean ensuring that all countries, regardless of size, can play a role in the international system on an equal footing, equally safeguard their national sovereignty, security, and development interests, and equally participate in global agenda-setting and institutional design, addressing global challenges through a global governance outlook of "consultation, contribution, and shared benefits." By "orderly," we mean persisting in the sustainability and constructiveness of the multipolarization process, ensuring that countries break through mental ruts such as "national exceptionalism," the idea that "a strong country must seek hegemony," and the "Thucydides Trap." Instead, they should focus on the prominent challenges of the "changes unseen in a century" [7], jointly establishing new mechanisms and initiatives to complement and refine the post-war international order, multilateral mechanisms, and the global governance system. This is not about a narrative competition between major powers over the definitions of multipolarity or multilateralism, nor is it about "starting a new stove" [8] or tearing everything down to start over, let alone using logic such as the "theory of being disadvantaged" or "theory of ineffectiveness" to completely subvert world multipolarity—a vital result of the WWII victory.
Safeguarding international fairness and justice requires responding to the epochal call of the rise of the Global South
The collective rise of the Global South is a distinct hallmark of the changes unseen in a century. Compared to eighty years ago, the international balance of power has undergone a fundamental transformation. According to IMF data, as a collective of emerging markets and developing countries, the Global South's total economic output will exceed 40% of the global total in 2024, contributing 80% to world economic growth. Simultaneously, measured by purchasing power parity (PPP), the GDP of the BRICS countries before expansion already exceeded that of the G7; after expansion, the BRICS countries account for nearly half of the global population and one-fifth of global trade. This series of data outlines not only a major rewriting of the world economic map but also signifies that the Global South is evolving from the "silent majority" on the international political stage into a key force for maintaining peace, driving development, and refining global governance. Platforms such as the "Greater BRICS Cooperation" and the "SCO+" [9], composed primarily of Global South countries, continue to expand their attraction and influence, participating extensively in planning global and regional security, economic, and development agendas.
President Xi Jinping has called for "increasing the representation and voice of Global South countries in global governance" and "uniting Global South countries in a spirit of equality, openness, transparency, and inclusiveness to promote the reform of the global governance system and vigorously lead the building of a community with a shared future for humanity." As a natural member of the Global South, China shares similar views and demands with other developing countries and emerging markets regarding the refinement of the international order and global governance. In practice, during the reform processes of existing international and multilateral mechanisms like the UN, WTO, and IMF, China has always been committed to enhancing the institutional discourse power of the Global South, promoting a global governance system that better reflects the new realities of the world political and economic landscape. As a founding member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the BRICS cooperation mechanism, China actively promotes the growth and strengthening of these two platforms, prioritizing the development agenda of the Global South, addressing non-traditional security challenges such as climate change, food security, and cybersecurity, and proposing specific measures such as building an SCO community with a shared future and the "five BRICS" vision. These efforts have effectively enhanced the influence and appeal of non-Western multilateral cooperation models.
Although the status of the Global South in the process of world multipolarity has improved, the global political, economic, security, and cultural governance systems that constitute the post-war international order have not been adapted in a timely manner to the fundamental changes in the balance of power. The Global South still faces much unfair and unjust treatment regarding discourse power and participation, which has stimulated a strong consensus and firm determination to maintain and refine a just and reasonable post-war international order. Meanwhile, certain countries have a blind faith in "hegemonic dependency theory" and "major-power determinism," advocating for the law of the jungle and "grand bargains" conducted from a "position of strength." They seek to subvert the post-war order and reconstruct spheres of influence, maliciously labeling BRICS cooperation and the SCO as "anti-Western" while casting aside values such as international fairness, justice, and shared benefits, thus becoming the primary source of instability for the post-war international order.
The baton of history has been passed to the present generation. All countries need to demonstrate greater political courage and historical responsibility. While safeguarding the victories of WWII, they must respond to the Global South's call for international fairness and justice, as well as its demands for equality of rights, opportunities, and rules in multilateral cooperation. Based on true multilateralism, they should explore reforms to refine the post-war international order and the corresponding multilateral governance mechanisms in politics, economics, security, and culture. This will allow Global South countries to better integrate into global industrial, value, and supply chains, achieving development and revitalization through the processes of industrialization and modernization, thereby manifesting the epochal value of the post-war international order.
Institutional stability stems from a consensus on values; the justice of an order is based on historical consciousness. Faced with the accelerating evolution of the changes unseen in a century, safeguarding the victories of WWII and the post-war international order is not an abstract historical commemoration but a dynamic practice to guarantee world peace and development. Only by jointly shouldering the responsibilities of the era, following the tide of multipolarity, and responding to the call of the Global South can we protect the shared memory of humanity, solidify the foundations of peace and development, and allow the victories of World War II to continue to shine.
(The author is the Deputy Director of the Institute of International Strategic and Security Studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies)