Three recent crises,namely the 2008 financial crisis,rising populism and the COVID-19 pandemic,have revealed inherent defects within the liberal intational system,the shaky intational power structure bemired in major power competition,the crumbling post-Cold War word order and a misty future for intational politics.Together,institutions,power structures and states are determining the direction of a new intational order;with all three variables holding multiple possibilities,the future is far from certain.The shift from old to new world orders usually takes several decades,with the transitional period being the most turbulent and disorderly.Major events can accelerate,precipitate or put these changes to the test.The COVID-19 pandemic in particular has cast significant impacts on the intational order,and the disparities between countries in their response to the pandemic will affect intational power dynamics and the building of a new world order.