By Muhammad Ismail
Global Order is considered one of the fundamental concepts of global politics, encompassing the distribution of power, the nature of relations between states, and the set of prevailing values.
Throughout history, whenever it has shifted, entire civilizations have been swept along with it. Sometimes those shifts brought progress, stability, and cooperation. Other times, they left nations fragmented, weakened, and adrift.
The Muslim world has never been immune to these forces.
The end of World War I (1914–1918) and its political consequences brought about a profound historical shift for the Islamic world. Following this war, the fall of the Ottoman Caliphate, which was an important political and symbolic foundation of Islamic unity, led to the fragmentation of the Islamic world. Colonial agreements such as the Sykes-Picot Agreement divided the Islamic world with artificial borders, and in their place, nationalist states emerged, many of which were under the political, economic, and military influence of Western powers.
Therefore, the Islamic world fell from a relatively united and influential geopolitical position into a state of weakness, dependency, and subordination. Although this change was part of a general transformation of the international order, it had negative consequences for the Islamic Ummah, as fragmentation replaced internal cohesion, and dependency replaced independence.
In the contemporary period, the international system is once again in a state of flux. The unipolar system, which was largely under the leadership of the United States, is slowly moving toward a multipolar system, in which the roles of China, Russia, and other regional powers are increasing. These changes not only bring about a shift in the distribution of power but also exert a profound influence on international rules, alliances, and strategic interactions.
According to the theories of International Relations, Realism emphasizes that states must seize every opportunity to maximize power and protect national interests, whereas Constructivism considers the role of identity, values, and ideas to be paramount. Accordingly, it is necessary for the Islamic Ummah to utilize the ongoing global changes as an opportunity, rather than viewing them solely as a threat.
The Islamic world must first recognize itself and assess its internal situation: political divisions, economic weakness, and intellectual fragmentation are factors that create the conditions for foreign interference. Despite this, the possibility for cooperation and unity still exists, grounded in shared values, historical identity, and geopolitical positioning.
If the Islamic Ummah can approach this period of global realignment with genuine strategic seriousness, strengthening internal cohesion, and engaging the shifting world order on its own terms rather than everyone else’s, the possibility of moving from the margins to the center of global affairs is real. Not as a return to some idealized past, but as a civilization that understands its own weight and decides, finally, to carry it.
