How the International Order Changed in the Last Decade?

TO WHAT EXTENT HAS THE WORLD ORDER CHANGED IN THE LAST DECADE?
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To What Extent has the International Order Changed in the Last Decade?
Introduction
In recent months, there have been speculations of changing world order. However, a changing world does not merely happen after a single incidence and the ranking of the major powers keep shifting. Currently, some observers believe that the world is in a transitional period where the international powers are shifting. This essay explores how the world order has changed in the past decade. The liberal world order is considered to be the previous world order, which is suspected to have come to an end. The question that remains unanswered is what is the current order. In this case, the current world order is described as a rising totalitarian world government coupled with growing Asian power.[Paul Stares et al., Perspectives on a Changing World Order (New York: Council on Foreign Relations, 2020).]
US Hegemony in Global Politics
The American hegemony in world politics is the right place to start exploring the changes that have taken place in the world order. The rationale is that the United States and its allies are considered to be the pioneers of the liberal world order since the end of World War II and the Cold War. Therefore, describing the diminishing power of America is the start of the rise of a new order. Today, liberal democracy has been described as both fragile and polarized. The American hegemony was built around financial, political, and military leadership. However, the United States has failed to retain this power due to the rise of others, especially China. The American power has been challenged since the 1970s, and three options for the country were availed in the 'Gilpin Dilemma.'[John Ikenberry "The End of Liberal International Order?" International Affairs 94, no. 1 (2018): 7.] [Alejandro Dabat and Paulo Leal "The rise and fall of the United States in global hegemony," Problems of Development 50, no 199 (2020): 1] [Nussaiba Ashraf "Revisiting International Relations Legacy on Hegemony: The Decline of American Hegemony from Comparative Perspectives." Review of Economics and Political Science (2020): 1.] [Arlo Poletti and Lorenzo Zambernardi "Declining hegemony and the sources of Trump’s disengagement from multilateral trade governance: the interaction between domestic politics and the international political economy." International Politics (2021): 1] [Nasa'l Gwadabe, Hohd Saleh, and Abdullahi Ahmad "The Declining Hegemony of the United States and the Growing Influence of China: A Critical Perspective on Power Transition Theory in the 21st Century," Austral Brazilian Journal of Strategy & International Relations 9, no 18 (2021): 129]
In this dilemma, the United States could 1) adopt a defensive protectionist approach, 2) fragment the international system, or 3) continually innovate. Earlier presidencies adopted the third option, but now a new dilemma has emerged where the opponent is China. With the decline of America, even such establishments as the European Union have been considered challengers of the American hegemony despite most European countries being allies to the United States. Therefore, the fir...