Time and the multiplex order

Abstract

Scholarship on multiplex orders has largely focused on the spatial dimensions of multiplexity. This article explores the notion of temporal multiplexity, arguing that global orders also operate through distinct and coexisting temporal regimes. Drawing on and expanding Amitav Acharya's multiplex framework, we theorize how different actors experience, interpret and structure time within international politics. We propose a reinterpretation of the contemporary world order through three overarching temporalities—global western, global eastern and global southern—each shaped by distinct regimes of historicity. Global western temporality is grounded in a progressive yet crisis-ridden modernity, emphasizing linear liberal progress but increasingly marked by anxieties of decline and end times. Global eastern temporality operates within an ancient framework, structured around cycles of imperial rise, decline and resurgence, where past traumas and aspirations for restoration shape geopolitical strategies. Global southern temporality, by contrast, is presentist and transformational, foregrounding decolonization and reparative justice while rejecting hierarchical temporalities that position the South as lagging behind. These divergent temporal imaginaries generate competing global visions, shaping international conflicts, governance structures and development discourses. Understanding how time functions in a multiplex order reveals the deeper sources of the tensions underpinning contemporary international relations, from geopolitical rivalries to contestations over global governance reform. Recognizing temporal multiplicity is essential for fostering a more inclusive international order that reconciles competing historical narratives and future aspirations, rather than imposing singular trajectories of progress or restoration.