Multipolar Aspirations and Strategic Realities: The Limits of Alternative Security Guarantees in the Contemporary International System

For decades, the rules-based international order shaped by the United States and its Western partners has defined expectations for global interaction. Built after World War II and reinforced during the Cold War, it promoted accountability, transparency, and structured regulation while encouraging alignment among states. Yet the system often struggled to accommodate leaders who sought independent development models or resisted external governance frameworks. Across Africa, figures such as Thomas Sankara, Muammar Gaddafi, Kwame Nkrumah, and Patrice Lumumba demonstrated how efforts to assert sovereignty or redefine national priorities frequently carried political consequences.