【Report】Narrative Struggle over International Order in and Beyond the Indo-Pacific: Implications for Non-Major Power Agency in Global Governance

Stéphanie Martel (Queen’s University)

On April 23, 2026, Stéphanie Martel, Associate Professor at Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada, presented her ongoing book project on narratives of international order at Ritsumeikan University.

Prof. Martel began her presentation by clarifying that the “struggle” over the international order is a struggle over competing narratives of international order—stories that explain the order’s chronological development, the reasons it is in crisis, and the main characters (heroes and villains) that inhabit it. She noted that both liberal democracies and autocracies have been telling stories that the international order is in crisis for over 10 years..

The Queen’s University professor emphasized that narratives matter. They shape what actors consider “reality” and constitute actions by providing actors with understandings of the self, defining the boundaries of possible actions, and how the self relates to others..

Prof. Martel explained that her research project examines how Canada, great powers (the United States, China, and Russia), and smaller states in the Indo-Pacific (such as Japan and ASEAN member states) tell stories about the international order. As a theoretical framework, Prof. Martel explained that in every crisis narrative of international order, there is the identification of a problem in the order, the placing of blame on certain actors for the problem, and the portrayal of a hero who offers a solution..

She then shared her preliminary results with the audience. Canada’s narrative has shifted greatly in the last ten years, from one that stressed the need to strengthen the liberal international order to one that accepts the crisis situation of the order and stresses the need to realistically cope with it, as seen in Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Great power narratives—with notable differences in their contents—share striking similarities: hey all portray themselves as defenders of the international order and, at the same time, harbingers of the new and better order..

Smaller states in the Indo-Pacific region share a distinct form of narratives compared to both Canada and the great powers. Their narratives portray the international order as facing problems due to the self-interested actions of great powers, but do not blame individual great powers. Unlike the present-day Canadian narrative, smaller states’ narratives do not accept the chaotic nature of the international order. And most importantly, they are based on the view that great powers can be redeemed when smaller states work together to create a new and better order. Prof. Martel concluded her presentation by emphasizing that the international order is not determined by Western states or by powerful great powers, and that weaker states play an important role in shaping its nature..

During the Q&A, audience members asked many questions, such as those regarding the reducibility of narratives to material and institutional factors, the usefulness of the narrative approach to studying international order, and the possibility of building a common narrative of order that all states share.