Kishore Mahbubani. Photo: GT

The Global Times Annual Conference 2025, themed, "Moving forward in Partnership: Resonance of Values between China and the World," is held in Beijing on Saturday. During a discussion on how to address the global security deficit, Kishore Mahbubani, distinguished fellow at the Asia Research Institute of the National University of Singapore and Singapore's former permanent representative to the United Nations, delivered a video speech stating that the West must adapt to a multi-civilizational, multipolar and multilateral world.

Mahbubani said that our world today is a troubled place, and the fundamental reason is that the world is experiencing three fundamental structural changes. The world is becoming multi-civilizational, multipolar and multilateral, he said. The multi-civilizational world is a natural result of the fact that we are moving away from the era of Western domination of world history. And we are seeing the return of many other civilizations especially in Asia, the Sinic, the Indic, the Islamic civilizations. While the US tries to stop the return and development of China, it cannot stop the return of such an old and resilient and strong civilization, Mahbubani emphasized. 

Multipolarity is emerging because new powers are rising. Mahbubani believes that Russia is one of the great powers of the world, and the West must understand that 85 percent of the world's population have not imposed sanctions on Russia. The legitimate security interests of Russia must also be taken into consideration while also respecting international law, he noted. 

Moreover, the world is becoming more multilateral, Mahbubani said. Regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict, he said that the UN was constantly calling for a "two-State solution" between Israel and Palestine when the Cold War ended. The West had an opportunity to create a permanent two-State solution, it failed to do so. It allowed the problem to fester and grow, and so at some point, it had to explode, the scholar stressed. 

Mahbubani believes that in the face of these conflicts, we have to find ways and means of bridging the divide. He is glad that China has taken some steps toward trying to improve the situation in the Middle East by organizing the meetings between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and by organizing a meeting of the Palestinian factions in Beijing. He thinks China and the other Asian countries can step up and do more to persuade the West to accept the fact that the West has got to adapt to a different world which is multi-civilizational, multipolar and multilateral. 

Global Times