Body aches: Causes and treatments

Body aches can result from tiredness or exercise and commonly occur with infections such as the flu. But, they can also be a symptom of an underlying condition, such as fibromylagia, arthritis, or lupus.

While body aches are usually harmless, it is helpful to understand what causes them and when to seek medical attention.

Body aches can vary in intensity and frequency. A person may describe them as sharp, intermittent pains or a dull but persistent ache.

People can often identify and treat body aches without seeing a doctor. Sometimes, however, they may need medical help.

Share on PinterestBody aches can occur alongside pain, fatigue, and weakness.

If body aches are due to a medical condition, a person may experience other symptoms as well. Recognizing other signs can help a person identify the cause and decide whether they should see a doctor.

Some common symptoms that occur alongside body aches are:

• pain in a specific part of the body
• weakness
• fatigue
• shivers or changes in body temperature
• cold and flu-like symptoms

Body aches may occur for many different reasons. Most are easily treatable and relatively harmless, but sometimes body aches can be due to more serious medical conditions.

Possible causes of body aches include:

Fibromyalgia

Pain, fatigue, and muscle stiffness are all symptoms of fibromyalgia, a long-term condition that causes aches and pains throughout the body.

Fibromyalgia may result from the way the central nervous system processes pain messages when they occur in the body.

Infections and viruses

The flu, the common cold, and other viral or bacterial infections can cause body aches.

When such infections occur, the immune system sends white blood cells to fight off the infection.

This can result in inflammation, which can leave the muscles in the body feeling achy and stiff.

Medications

Some medicines and drugs, such as statins and blood pressure medications, have side effects that make the body feel sore, stiff, and achy.

Withdrawal symptoms from alcohol and certain drugs, including cocaine and opiates, can also have a similar effect.

Fluid retention

When the body retains fluid, swelling and inflammation may develop, resulting in general muscular aches and pains. A person may also experience sharp, localized pains and cramps.

Conditions that can lead to fluid retention include:

• thyroid problems, especially an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism)
• congestive heart failure
• cirrhosis of the liver
• severe malnutrition
• chronic kidney disease and nephrotic syndrome
• venous insufficiency
• problems with lymphatic drainage

Each of these conditions needs specific treatment, but some home remedies can reduce the impact of water retention.

Learn more here about fluid retention, why it happens, and how to manage it.

Hypokalemia

Hypokalemia is when a person has low potassium in their bloodstream.

Low potassium affects the way nerves and muscles function, which can result in body aches, weakness, fatigue, and muscle cramps.

Stress

Stress can cause tension in the body and can also weaken the immune system. This may make the muscles feel stiff, as well as affect the body’s response to inflammation and infection.

Dehydration

Staying hydrated is essential to keep a person’s body functioning well. Dehydration can sometimes cause a person to feel tired and sore.

Lack of sleep

Share on PinterestA lack of sleep can result in aches and pains.

Scientists think there might be a two-way link between sleep and pain.

People who experience chronic pain often find it hard to sleep. At the same time, research has found that people with insomnia often experience chronic pain.

Over time, not getting enough sleep can lead to exhaustion. This may make the body feel achy, sluggish, and heavy.

Lack of sleep also affects the body’s ability to repair tissues and cells. When the body does not have sufficient time to repair and recuperate, a person may experience aches and pains more frequently.

Pneumonia

Pneumonia is a lung infection that can be very dangerous without treatment. Pneumonia may result in an inability to get enough oxygen into the body.

Without enough oxygen, red blood cells and tissues in the body are not able to function properly, which may cause aches and pains.

Find out more here about pneumonia.

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)

In a similar way to a person who does not get enough sleep, someone with CFS may experience muscular aches in addition to insomnia, exhaustion, and weakness.

Arthritis

Arthritis occurs when a person’s joints become inflamed. Arthritis can result from wear and tear on the body or may be a result of an autoimmune condition that causes the immune system to attack the healthy tissues that line the joints.

Pain and achiness are common symptoms of arthritis.

Autoimmune disorders

Various autoimmune disorders can cause body aches. These include:

Lupus: This occurs when a person’s immune system begins to attack healthy tissues, causing inflammation.

Myositis: This is an inflammation of the muscles. Other symptoms of myositis include fatigue and a general feeling of being unwell.

Multiple sclerosis (MS): This is an autoimmune condition that affects the central nervous system. People with MS feel body aches and pains because the tissue surrounding their nerve cells has broken down due to persistent inflammation.

Share on PinterestHome treatment includes drinking plenty of fluids to stay hydrated.

A doctor will prescribe treatment for any underlying condition that causes body aches and pains, but a person can also try the following remedies to help alleviate the discomfort:

Resting: This allows the body time to repair and recuperate.

Drinking plenty of fluids: Staying hydrated can help ease achiness caused by dehydration.

Taking over-the-counter medications (OTC): Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which can reduce pain and inflammation.

Having a warm bath: The heat can help relax muscles and ease tension in the body.

Regulating temperature: This may include reducing a fever, keeping warm, or staying cool to alleviate shivering and prevent the muscles from seizing up.

A person should see a doctor if they experience:

• persistent pain that does not improve with home remedies
• severe pain, especially if there is no apparent cause
• any body aches or pains that occur with a rash
• body aches and pains after a tick bite
• body aches or muscular pain accompanied by severe redness or swelling
• body aches caused by a particular medication
• a persistent fever

Other symptoms that can accompany body aches may require emergency medical attention. These include:

• severe water retention
• difficulty swallowing, eating, or drinking
• shortness of breath
• vomiting, particularly with a high temperature or fever
• a stiff neck
• changes in vision
• extreme exhaustion that does not go away
• sensitivity to light
• weak muscles or inability to move part of the body
• fainting or loss of consciousness
• a seizure

The doctor can help diagnose the cause of body aches and determine if treatment is necessary.

If a person experiences body aches for more than 2 weeks, and they do not know what is causing them, they should see a doctor regardless of whether any other symptoms occur.

Mild body aches that improve over time and ease with rest, rehydration, and OTC treatment are usually no cause for concern.

However, body aches can also be a sign of a more serious underlying condition.

If a person experiences frequent or persistent body aches or aches that occur alongside other, more severe symptoms, they should speak with a doctor for proper diagnosis and treatment.

Body Aches: 17 Possible Causes

Body aches occur with many health conditions, including arthritis and the flu. If the pain lasts more than a few days, is severe, or occurs with other symptoms, you may need medical attention.

Often, rest and home treatment can relieve body aches. However, persistent or severe pain may have an underlying cause that needs medical attention.

A doctor can help you work out a treatment plan to relieve your aches and other associated symptoms.

Keep reading to learn more about 17 causes for body aches and pains and other symptoms of each, to help you work out what’s happening.

We often think of stress as a mental health condition, but it can also impact the body on a cellular level.

In times of stress, the body can become more susceptible to infection and inflammation, and it may lead to aches and pains.

Other symptoms of stress and anxiety include:

• an increased heart rate and blood pressure
• sweating
• hyperventilating
• trembling
• headache

Get some tips for relieving stress here.

Water is an essential ingredient for the body’s normal and healthy functioning. Without it, you can become dehydrated, which can lead to muscle cramps.

Other symptoms of dehydration include:

• dark urine
• dizziness or disorientation
• exhaustion
• extreme thirst

What’s the best way to rehydrate?

Adults aged 18 and over need to sleep at least 7 hours in every 24 hours.

Having too little sleep can make you more sensitive to pain. It can also worsen existing pain symptoms.

Around 25% of your sleep should be the deepest sleep. During this time, the body repairs itself and releases essential hormones, among other functions.

Not getting enough quality sleep also increase the risk of various chronic conditions, such as:

• diabetes
• cardiovascular disease
• obesity
• depression

How much deep, light, and REM sleep do we need, and how can we get enough good quality sleep?

A cold, the flu, COVID-19, and other infections can cause inflammation as your immune system works to remove them. This can cause aches and pains.

Here are some common symptoms of these conditions.

Cold symptoms are usually milder than those of flu. The severity and types of COVID-19 symptoms vary widely, but they can become life threatening if a person finds it hard to breathe.

What’s the difference between cold and flu symptoms?

Anemia happens when your body doesn’t have enough properly functioning red blood cells, so your body tissues can’t get enough oxygen.

Some people who live with chronic conditions have anemia of inflammation. Experts believe this may result when a chronic condition affects how the body works, including how it uses iron.

Possible symptoms include:

• body pain
• a rapid heart rate
• dizziness or light-headedness
• weakness and fatigue
• pale skin
• shortness of breath

What are some signs of iron deficiency anemia?

Hypocalcemia, or a low blood calcium level, can happen when you don’t have enough calcium in your diet and vitamin D (calciferol) in your body from sunshine or your diet.

Your bones and muscles need calcium and vitamin D to stay healthy.

Low vitamin D levels can lead to:

• bone pain and unusual bone shape in children and teens
• muscle pain and weakness
• muscle cramps

How can I get more vitamin D?

Mononucleosis, mono, or “kissing disease” is an infection caused by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV).

It’s very contagious, and symptoms include head and body aches.

Other symptoms are:

• fatigue
• fever
• a sore throat
• swollen lymph nodes
• an enlarged liver, spleen, or both
• a rash

What treatments can you use for mono?

Pneumonia is a lung infection that can affect your whole body.

It can cause chest and muscle pain, as well as:

• a cough, which may be dry or produce green, yellow, or blood-tinged mucus
• headache
• fever and chills
• breathing difficulty
• fatigue
• low appetite
• confusion
• nausea and vomiting, especially in children

Can home remedies support medical treatment for pneumonia?

Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition where your entire body feels exhausted, achy, and sensitive.

Why is happens is unclear, but older age and having lupus or rheumatoid arthritis seem to increase the risk.

Symptoms include:

• pain and stiffness throughout the body
• fatigue
• depression and anxiety
• sleep problems
• difficulty thinking, focusing, and remembering
• headaches and migraine

Fibromyalgia diet: Can it help?

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), can cause you to feel exhausted and weak, no matter how much rest or sleep you get.

Possible causes include previous infection with the EBV or other viruses, genetic factors, and changes in the immune system.

Symptoms of CFS include:

• aches in the muscles and joints throughout your body
• fatigue that does not improve with rest
• a general feeling of being unwell
• headaches
• sleep disturbances and daytime drowsiness
• difficulty thinking and remembering

Get some diet hacks to reduce chronic fatigue

Arthritis happens when your joints become inflamed. There are different types of arthritis, and symptoms can vary, but they all include joint pain.

Examples include:

• osteoarthritis, which happens when the cartilage around your joints breaks down
• autoimmune conditions that wear away the lining around your joints, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
• gout, when a buildup of uric acid crystals causes pain, swelling, and inflammation
• psoriatic arthritis, which can occur with psoriasis and often involves swelling in the fingers

Other symptoms of arthritis include:

• stiffness in your joints
• swelling, warmth, or redness around the joint
• not being able to move a joint all the way

Can Ayurvedic treatment help with arthritis?

Lupus, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), happens when your immune system attacks the tissues around your body, including blood vessels, organs, and joints.

The damage and inflammation that can lead to pain in the joints due to arthritis.

Other symptoms include:

• skin lesions and rashes
• anemia
• headache
• heart, lung, and kidney problems
• ear and eye problems

What are some diet tips for lupus?

Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that spreads through tick bites.

Symptoms develop in stages and include:

• a rash
• muscle pain
• eye pain
• joint pain, especially in the knee, ankle, and wrist joints
• facial palsy, or weakness in the facial muscles

Without treatment, Lyme disease can lead to neuromuscular and joint conditions, such as arthritis and facial paralysis. It can also cause heart problems.

What is the Lyme disease antibody test?

Histoplasmosis is a fungal infection caused by airborne spores from the soil or the droppings of bats or birds, especially in river valleys.

Possible symptoms include:

• flu-like symptoms
• chills and fever
• chest pain
• joint pain, in some cases
• headaches
• coughing

How can histoplasmosis affect the eyes?

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune condition that affects the nervous system. It causes the myelin coverings around nerves to break down because of constant inflammation. As a result, the nerves cannot transmit messages effectively.

As a result, a person with MS will experience body aches and pain.

They may also experience:

• vision changes
• fatigue
• weakness
• tingling
• trouble walking or staying balanced
• trouble remembering or thinking

What are the treatments for MS?

Sepsis is an extreme response to an infection. It happens when an infection in the lungs, skin, or elsewhere triggers an immune reaction throughout the body. It is a life-threatening emergency.

The symptoms of sepsis include:

• severe pain
• a rapid heart rate or weak pulse
• confusion
• fever or chills
• difficulty breathing
• clammy skin

Anyone with these symptoms needs urgent medical treatment, especially if they have a weakened immune system or already have an infection. It can quickly lead to septic shock, which can be fatal.

Cancer can cause general body pain if it spreads throughout the body or if a person has bone cancer. As late-stage cancer progresses, the pain will increase, and the person will need strong pain relief medication.

Depending on where cancer has spread, other late-stage symptoms may include:

• bone pain and fractures if cancer is in the bones
• shortness of breath, if cancer is in the lungs
• headaches and dizziness if cancer has reached the brain
• abdominal swelling and jaundice, which give a yellow tinge to the eyes, if cancer has spread to the liver

Some cancer treatments can also cause bone pain.

Anyone with cancer or a previous diagnosis of cancer should speak with a doctor if they notice an onset of general pain or bone pain.

What are the stages of cancer?

Why do I have joint pain in the morning?

Joint pain and stiffness that is present when you wake up and lasts 30 minutes or longer may be a sign of RA. RA usually affects more than one joint, and it occurs in corresponding joints on both sides of the body, for instance, both knees.

What does it mean when you have body aches but no fever?

Body aches often happen with an infection, and you may also have a fever and chills. However, they also can occur without a fever, for instance, if you have been exercising more than usual, if you are not sleeping well, or if you are lacking nutrients, such as vitamin D or calcium.

How do you stop body aches?

This will depend on the cause. If it is due to exercise, you will have to wait until they resolve. Some underlying conditions, such as a cold or the flu, respond to rest and home treatment. Other causes will need medical attention. In the case of sepsis, the person will need immediate help.

Seek emergency medication attention if you have body pain with the following symptoms:

• trouble breathing
• trouble eating or drinking
• a high fever
• confusion
• seizures
• extreme fatigue or exhaustion
• a bad cough that doesn’t go away after a few days

If other, milder symptoms last for more than 2 weeks, see your doctor. They can examine you for a possible underlying condition. They will then work with you on a treatment plan to reduce the pain and treat the cause.

If you don’t already have a primary care doctor, you can browse doctors in your area through the Healthline FindCare tool.

Body aches and pains can happen for many reasons, ranging from stress to sepsis. Many of these causes are not serious and will resolve without treatment, but some may need urgent medical treatment.

If so, a doctor will consider the aches and pains along with other symptoms and carry out various tests before making a diagnosis.

Read this article in Spanish.

Painful menstruation – causes, diseases, diagnosis and treatment

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Painful menstruation – the causes of occurrence, in which diseases occur, diagnosis and methods of treatment.

Almost half of girls and women experience painful menstruation (dysmenorrhea). For many of them, pain and discomfort lead to disability within 1-3 days. Clinicians do not attribute this condition to an independent disease, but associate it with a menstrual cycle disorder, which is manifested by cramping or pulling pains in the lower abdomen and in the lumbar region during menstrual bleeding. Pain can be aggravated by other unpleasant symptoms: headache, nausea, fainting. The cause of pain is spastic uterine contractions, during which the endometrium is rejected.

Dysmenorrhea can be based on neurogenic, metabolic and psychological disorders, which must be taken into account in the diagnosis.

Varieties

Dysmenorrhea can be primary (not associated with pathology of the pelvic organs) or secondary (against the background of pathologies of the pelvic organs, due to urogenital diseases and inflammatory processes). Depending on the stage of the disease, there are compensated (the intensity of pain is constant for a long time) and decompensated (symptoms become more pronounced every year) forms.

What diseases cause dysmenorrhea

Adolescent girls are characterized by primary dysmenorrhea, the cause of which is difficult to identify. The basis of primary dysmenorrhea is the accumulation of prostaglandins – physiologically active substances – in the endometrium of the uterus, which cause its spastic contractions.

Excess production of prostaglandins is the result of hormonal changes during puberty.

The occurrence of menstrual pain can provoke the hormone vasopressin. An increase in its level in the blood leads to stagnation of blood in the tissues of the small pelvis.

Secondary dysmenorrhea is caused by various gynecological and infectious diseases.

Sometimes inflammatory processes and adhesions in the pelvic organs lead to dysmenorrhea.

Diagnostics and examination

When diagnosing dysmenorrhea, the woman’s age, concomitant or past diseases, data from a general examination, and ultrasound are taken into account. If the age of the patient does not exceed 25-30 years and the examination did not reveal other diseases, the diagnosis of primary dysmenorrhea is most likely. To confirm the diagnosis, the doctor prescribes a series of tests and tests. It is necessary to assess the hormonal background, first of all, the determination of estradiol levels

Estradiol (E2, Estradiol)

Synonyms: Blood test for estradiol. 17-beta-estradiol.
Brief description of the analyte Estradiol
Estradiol is a steroid hormone with maximum estrogen…

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and progesterone.

Progesterone

Synonyms: Progestin; Gestagen. P4; Pregn-4-ene-3,20-dione.

Brief description of the analyte Progesterone

Progesterone is produced in the ovaries and in a small…

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If pain during menstruation appeared in a woman 30 years of age or older, this may indicate the development of endometriosis or the growth of a myomatous node.

Endometriosis is the growth of endometrial cells (the inner layer of the uterine cavity) on its surface and / or in the tissues of nearby organs.

The disease can occur both in women who have given birth, who have undergone abortions or diagnostic curettage, and in nulliparous women suffering from infertility.

If the cause of dysmenorrhea is inflammatory diseases, then the pain is characterized by a different temporary appearance. They increase before the onset of menstruation, and after the first day their intensity decreases. In addition, pulling and aching pains also occur in the pelvic area. In this case, the study of the smear and the identification of the pathogen in the discharge of the cervical canal and vagina confirms the diagnosis.

Ultrasound of the pelvic organs is also prescribed to clarify the diagnosis,

Ultrasound of the soft tissues

Examination of soft tissues to detect pathological changes and diagnose neoplasms.

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hysterosalpingography

Hysterosalpingography (Hysterosalpingography)

Hysterosalpingography (HSG) is a method of radiographic examination of the state of the uterine cavity and patency of the fallopian tubes using a contrast agent …

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hysteroscopy.

When diagnosing the causes of dysmenorrhea, one should not exclude such a pathological process as genital tuberculosis, the prevalence of which has increased significantly in recent years. Sometimes the first sign of the disease is infertility. Concomitant symptoms may include lack of appetite, unreasonable weight loss, night sweats, constant body temperature in the range of 37.1-38.0 ° C.

Dysmenorrhea can be caused not only by hormonal imbalance and diseases of the pelvic organs. Intrauterine devices (IUD)

sometimes set without taking into account contraindications and additional examinations.

If the spiral is chosen incorrectly, this can lead to menstrual irregularities and dysmenorrhea.

Which doctors to contact

With the exception of dysmenorrhea caused by genital tuberculosis, women with complaints of painful menstruation are treated by a gynecologist. If a neurogenic and psychosomatic component of dysmenorrhea is detected, a psychotherapist can be involved in the treatment.

What to do

Many women think that painful periods are normal and limit themselves to taking painkillers for a long time. Without establishing a correct diagnosis, these measures often lead to a gradual increase in pain. Even if it is possible to stop pain with the help of anti-inflammatory drugs, it is necessary to find out its cause, which is especially important in secondary dysmenorrhea.

Treatment

In primary dysmenorrhea, treatment is aimed at restoring the hormonal background and stopping the pain syndrome.

The first task is solved by the use of hormonal drugs, the choice of which is determined by the severity of dysmenorrhea.

The doctor can individually select combined oral contraceptives (COCs). The results of studies show that after a year of using COCs, the menstrual cycle normalizes, and the effect persists even after stopping these drugs.

Physiotherapeutic procedures serve as an additional method of treatment: magnetotherapy, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, ultrasonic waves, ultraviolet rays, laser radiation, acupuncture, gynecological massage, etc. Local impulse effect on the pelvic organs leads to an acceleration of recovery and compensatory processes in the body. Positive results are obtained by non-drug methods of treatment: physiotherapy exercises (exercise therapy), proper nutrition with the mandatory inclusion of products containing vitamins B1, B6 and E.

A number of studies have noted the importance of introducing magnesium preparations into the therapeutic course, since it is involved in the regulation of muscle contractions. If the analysis reveals a lack of magnesium in the blood,

Serum magnesium (Magnesium, Serum; Mg)

Synonyms: Blood test for magnesium; total magnesium; Magnesium ions. Serum Magnesium Test; Magnesium test; Magnesium, blood; serum magnesium.

Brief description of the analyzed analyte Magnesium
…

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Your doctor may recommend taking a combination of magnesium and vitamin B6 to normalize your menstrual cycle.

Pregnancy and childbirth in most cases lead to the weakening or disappearance of primary dysmenorrhea.

Treatment for secondary dysmenorrhea depends on the cause of the pain.

Endometriosis, as the most common cause of secondary dysmenorrhea, requires complex and long-term treatment. Removal of the endometrium does not eliminate the recurrence of the disease after a few years. Based on the results of clinical trials, doctors recommend long-term drug therapy after surgery. As a rule, in mild forms of endometriosis, combined oral contraceptives, progestogen preparations are prescribed. The clinical efficacy of dienogest in endometrioid lesions has been proven. This drug well relieves pain associated with endometriosis and pain in the pelvic organs.

Cervical stenosis (narrowing of the cervical canal) is treated by dilating the cervix. A stable result is given by pregnancy and vaginal delivery.

Treatment of adhesions, which may be due to diseases such as cervicitis (inflammation of the cervix) and pelvic inflammatory disease, includes a range of measures from symptomatic therapy (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) to surgical excision of adhesions. In some cases, antiprostaglandin drugs are effective.

Sources:

1. Clinical guidelines “Endometriosis”. Developed by: Russian Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. – 2020.
2. Clinical guidelines “Hyperplasia of the endometrium”. Developed by: Russian Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. – 2021. Tags: dysmenorrhea, endometriosis, infertility

IMPORTANT!

The information in this section should not be used for self-diagnosis or self-treatment. In case of pain or other exacerbation of the disease, only the attending physician should prescribe diagnostic tests. For diagnosis and proper treatment, you should contact your doctor.
For a correct assessment of the results of your analyzes in dynamics, it is preferable to do studies in the same laboratory, since different laboratories may use different research methods and units of measurement to perform the same analyzes.

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Painful symptoms of multipolarity — Russia in global politics

Horizontal dialogue as opposed to Western vertical monologue requires a transformation of international relations. Is there anyone to fight for a world in which other worlds are possible?

Military conflicts of the 2010s gave rise to the next phase of the global crisis, which began in 1999, at the peak of the neoliberal “belle epoque” . During this period, the first cracks in the unipolar international system led by the United States became visible, which gradually developed into multipolarity.

In 1930, during the period of the organic crisis of capitalism after the collapse of the stock market, the Marxist Antonio Gramsci wrote one of his most famous phrases:0343 [1] . As a contemporary, he was able to see and describe what, years later, would be widely used in historiography – an era that showed the exhaustion of existing international structures, undermined by contradictions, as well as the inability of the ruling classes to respond to changes, to fight new forms, in particular, militarism that had been entrenched for decades. It was a crisis of power caused by the erosion of consensus, in which the elites could no longer exercise their rule through consent and were forced to resort to coercion; it was a time of “social pain symptoms” emanating from the decaying old order: widespread expression of discontent, open political violence and the rise of extremism – all of which have a clear resonance with today.

Politics and economics were never completely separate areas: the post-World War II liberal order was designed by economists, but on the basis of a master plan drawn up by foreign policy strategists who saw the prosperity of the free world as a means of containing and possibly defeating communism, and liberalism as a means to achieve these goals. The end of the Cold War temporarily propelled economists to the pinnacle of power: for the next three decades, finance ministers and central bankers in developed countries believed they ruled the world. It was the time, as Jennifer Harris and Jake Sullivan noticed in 2020 in the pages of magazine Foreign Policy when “ the management of globalization was entrusted to a small community of experts” [2] . At the heart of this worldview was a geopolitical dream: just as economic openness contributed to the collapse of the socialist bloc, it was expected that it would bring China closer to the Western model.

At the beginning of the 21st century, neoliberalism was, in fact, hegemony, and therefore scholars were optimistic about the ability of developed countries to prosper with almost no restrictions. But in the last decade, the discussion has been led by economists (in particular, the British Angus Deaton, the French Gabriel Zukman, Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez, the American Ann Case and the Italian Mariana Mazzucato), who emphasize the economic and social shortcomings of capitalism in their speeches and articles. It is appropriate to add to this list the American J. Bradford DeLonge, who in his book “Slouching Towards Utopia: An Economic History of the Twentieth Century” states that “the era ended in 2010 when the financial crisis cast doubt on whether capitalism is still a force for progress” [3] .

A New Era of Dewesternization

Wang Wen

The Western media often talk about the scenario of the “big two” – Sino-American rivalry. However, in reality, we are talking about a choice of two scenarios: Western hegemony and dewesternized independent development. The West no longer has the ability to stop this trend.

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History is the master of life. Since 2008, geopolitics has been mired in a period of systemic instability and erosion of the consensus of previous decades: in most countries (particularly in liberal democracies), popular distrust of institutions and elites is widespread; the fragmentation of the main party systems of previous decades is evident; more and more often, electoral successes accompany outsiders who dominate scenarios of mass discontent; there has been a rise in far-right forces, including in countries that seemed protected by traumatic authoritarian experiences. A decade ago, events such as Brexit, the election of Donald Trump or Jair Bolsonaro to the highest public office, the drift towards the sole consolidation of power in China, India and Turkey, the storming of the Capitol in Washington or government buildings in the Brazilian capital by far-right mobs would have been unthinkable.

The shortcomings in the regulation and management of transnational capitalism left to its own devices were clearly manifested at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic , when, in the absence of effective multilateral institutions capable of adequately mobilizing collective action, mechanisms were not found to prevent the spread of the virus. The pandemic is an example of a tipping point and can be seen as a “crisis within a crisis,” that is, an exogenous shock that hit the “new order” stage defined by globalization already immersed in a broader, structural process of transformation. This failure fueled the growth of protectionism, trade and technology confrontations, which, in turn, disrupted global supply chains and called into question the liberal theory of trade, which until recently was seen as the “great peacemaker” of international relations.

The rise of China and its growing rivalry with the US ended this era. After the failure of convergence through economic integration, geopolitics again came to the fore. US President Joseph Biden’s emphasis on challenging Chinese partners and his predecessor’s decision not to lift trade restrictions against them confirms that the US has entered a new era where foreign policy has taken precedence over the economy.

But great powers don’t seem all that great when it comes to fine-tuning international relations: despite talk of a new bipolarity, neither the US nor China is in a position to maintain a fragmented international order.

Although the elements of the previous international order – ideology, discourses, institutions, natural resources – are still alive, they are losing legitimacy and effectiveness. The rise of developing countries and the aggravation of global risks have made the problems of representativeness, legitimacy and effectiveness of multilateralism more obvious, and called into question its universality. The creation of informal networks outside the existing architecture of formal institutions and their fragmentation have weakened the UN system; expanding diplomacy ad hoc does not lead to a positive result, but rather to limited actions without making capital decisions.

It is clear that there is a crisis of ideas among intellectuals, and the emergence of numerous centers of gravity and interconnected theaters of confrontation indicates that discussions have reached an impasse. The UN Security Council has become more dysfunctional, and its five permanent members do not share the political perception of cooperation, leading to a decrease in trust, credibility and legitimacy. The inability to cope with shifts in the balance of power manifests itself in the face of serious challenges related to climate change, global recession, migration and militarized interdependence – phenomena that require collective action. But this shift in the balance of power is not reflected in the current international institutional architecture.

Differences in views on geopolitics, the perception of regional problems and the priority of national interests have changed the mechanisms of cooperation both in the political and economic spheres, and in the field of security. As the transaction costs of interaction become uneven, political resistance from the Global South becomes more visible. The current geopolitical situation is not only a return of history, but also a challenge to ideas regarding the creation and maintenance of international institutions and regimes that determine cooperation between states and regulate their behavior. The crisis has brought to the fore the fact that liberalism is not a reserve of the West. Against this backdrop, the interest of the left in the economic debate is becoming increasingly clear. This can be clearly seen in the dialogue between the Swiss economist Jean Charles Simond de Sismondi and the Englishman William Godwin on classical political economy, develops in the debate about the economic calculation of the Polish socialist Oscar Lange, who opposes the fathers of the Austrian school Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek, in the polemic between the British Alec Nove and the Belgian Ernest Mandel about the place of the market in socialism. But little of this finds its way into the discourses of popular movements and governments, which oscillate between condemning any economic transformation as “technocratic” and accepting it uncritically when the situation hits a dead end. One striking example is the mandate of the President of Venezuela – Nicolas Maduro has gone from condemning any economic difficulties in the country as the fruit of an imperialist plot to quasi-dollarization of the national economy. In his interpretation, the development of the country is much more than just socio-economic efforts; it is a myth that “consoles” society. In this construction, intellectual and political isolation in the face of economic transformation led to the rejection of the economy: neither its concept nor the object of study had epistemological legitimacy; theoretical nihilism in practice transformed into pure voluntarism – if the economy does not exist and what is happening in the country is determined by politics, then everything is possible.

A situation where neoliberalism is showing signs of weakness is being exploited by the left. At the same time, the relationship between the left and the progressive turn is complex: some leftists actively participated in the work of progressive governments, others were co-opted, others were critically supportive, others openly opposed. But all of them have been influenced by the experience of redistribution fueled by economic dynamics. To understand the specifics of this dynamic, it is useful to think back to Asia, where the transition from a wage competitive model to a technological innovation model was an extension from authoritarian states to countries practicing private initiative: from Vietnam to South Korea, the political leadership was intimately involved in the process of wealth creation. In Latin America, by contrast, this process neglected productivity, leaving much of the economy tied to uncontrolled variables, such as international prices and bank rates set by the US Federal Reserve.

Leftist governments have learned from this experience a kind of dualism, on one side of which was politics as an autonomous space (with a horizon of unlimited creativity), and on the other, the economy that finances it, a bottomless box of resources used without regard to environmental impact and in interaction with global capital. When in the 2010s the cycle of “satisfying” world prices has been interrupted, leftist governments have found no better solution than to abandon all restraint, promoting the struggle for assets and showing little respect for civil society. Because of this, economic ideas have taken root in most developing countries, including modern monetary theory and various versions of a universal basic income; at the same time, the historical aspects of their emergence on the territory of the Anglo-Saxon and European countries that experienced a period of high levels of capital accumulation with growing inequality were not taken into account. As a result, many developing countries have developed distributive practices that cannot generate value and rely solely on government subsidies.

The beginning of the 21st century ushered in a new political stage for them with inevitable geopolitical consequences: a break with the Washington Consensus and government regulation program, wide privatization and external openness, and the promotion of a project like “21st century socialism” that offered various forms of regional integration to strengthen relative degrees of sovereignty. The emphasis was no longer on free trade and capital raising policies; the focus was on strategies for accumulating regional power, political and social integration, and industrial cooperation. However, this led to a confrontation between the growing “autonomous” regionalism, which questioned the role of the “periphery” in the world order and tried to establish strategies for endogenous development, and “dependent” regionalism, which involves cooperation with developed countries and the search for new strategies for adapting to world capitalism with a free market at the center.

The era of developed multipolarity

Fyodor Lukyanov

Developed multipolarity is obviously a turbulent time. What we saw in 2022 is just the beginning. Whether it is possible to establish some kind of balance at all is an open question. But if some more or less harmonious world composition is possible, then it will arise as a result of a series of conflicts and upheavals.

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“Crossroads” were created, opening up new opportunities for developing countries that no longer wanted to obey the old order and began to determine for themselves the justice of the restoration of equality. For intellectuals, the development of the countries of the periphery is closely connected with the liberation from the influence of the center; this concept implies that liberation is not an end in itself and can only be a means to achieve a just and stable world order[4]. Resistance projects arose out of very specific local histories opposed to global designs: for example, the 2005 version of the Bandung Conference was the defining moment that ignited the fire of the “Third World” that the French thinker Franz Fanon wrote about in his book “Les Damnés de la Terre” , discussing a decolonial geopolitics seeking to free itself from the economic and political dependence of the “collective West”. In this construction, the nation state is a Eurocentric fiction that does not exist anywhere in the world, so it was not about anti-globalism, but about alter-globalism, which implied a qualitatively different strategy for transforming international relations. To the imposition of a Eurocentric model of modernity, developing countries responded with “anti-modernity” and it was hierarchical, authoritarian, patriarchal and anti-democratic. If Eurocentric thinking claimed that democracy was a natural attribute of the West, then Third World fundamentalism retorted that democracy was not effective in its territory.

The engine of this process is China, whose position is very simple: minimum risk, ambiguity and prompt response to international events, taking into account the analysis of changes in the positions of other countries. Another influential participant, India, is balancing between maintaining constructive cooperation with Russia and strengthening relations with Australia, the United States and Japan within the framework of “A F ree and Open Indo-Pacific Region” . Russia is focused on turning Eurasia into a single continental space of the world. Unlike these countries, Pakistan does not have the luxury of testing the patience of the “collective West”: its status GGP+ in the European Union gave a respite to Pakistan’s faltering economy, which is still heavily dependent on loans from US-dominated international financial institutions.

China’s gambit in the SCO

Saddad Ibrahim Al-Husseini

China’s economic presence in the Middle East can hardly be seen as a military threat, but rather a chance to transform it into a global economic advantage.

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The Arab countries of the Persian Gulf in the new geopolitical situation feel themselves between a rock and a hard place and do not want to give preference to either side. In response, they made an attempt to diversify their relationship, which was highlighted by the visit of the Chinese leader in December 2022 to Saudi Arabia. In turn, African countries may look to South Africa, which likes to call itself a “negotiated country” and whose future decisions will be determined by what the rest of the continent does. To some extent, such solutions will follow the example of box BRICS where China is the first fiddle.

The Latin American region stands apart, in the space of which the promotion of “autonomous” regionalism reached one of its highest manifestations in February 2010 with the establishment of CELAC , but without the formation of its own power bloc, preservation of the raw material character and asymmetric dependency relations, therefore, the project initially had risks. In opposition to and on the basis of “open regionalism”, the Pacific Alliance was created, which is based on the principle of free trade, attraction of foreign investment, the use of static comparative advantages, production specialization and development in connection with integration into global value chains dominated by transnational corporations. In other words, the Alliance was in line with the ideas of building a Trans-Pacific and Trans-Atlantic partnership, seeking to advance in the financial and economic sphere and weaken the positions of other regional blocs with greater geopolitical autonomy.

In response, an attempt was made in the region to create cross-integration between countries belonging to ALBA and MERCOSUR in order to strengthen regional ties. In 2012, Venezuela joined MERCOSUR and a protocol was signed on the inclusion of Bolivia and Ecuador in the bloc. Following these decisions, MERCOSUR controls the world’s richest reserves of energy, minerals, natural and water resources, becoming the trading bloc with the world’s largest oil reserves. In addition, Argentina and Brazil produce 25 percent of the world’s plant protein; The region contains 55 percent of the world’s lithium reserves. The potential is huge, but for all these years it has not been possible to solve the problems of industrial consolidation, which leads to the weakness of regional value chains and the insufficient development of strategic production and technological cores for the endogenous development of productive forces.

The regional elites tried to compensate for the weakness of the economic sphere in order to achieve their goals in the space MERCOSUR-ALBA by creating a Latin American identity and strengthening ties based on political coincidences, but they, as a rule, did not go beyond agreements between governments. The delay in the creation of the “ estado continental” (“continental state”) is the main problem that prevents the Latin American region from having sufficient political status to become a global actor with its own project. The integrating vision of autonomous regionalism is still governed by the concept of nation-state articulation, which represents a fundamental obstacle to regional development.

A new scenario with pressure on the region, which has increased many times as a result of the aggravation of global contradictions and tensions, as well as weaknesses and stagnation of the regional integration process, has created a situation of weakening the cycle of “autonomous” regionalism. This is noticeable against the backdrop of the movement at the government level in the core of MERCOSUR forces declaring their support for integration into the Pacific Alliance and advocating a return to free trade policy, which again changes the regional scenario. Despite the fact that the governments of South American countries have not taken any structural decisions, the possibility of annulment of rules MERCOSUR , preventing the conclusion of bilateral free trade agreements, may completely destroy the regional bloc, as happened with the Andean Community. Added to this is the difficult situation in Venezuela, the third largest country MERCOSUR , where there is a state crisis. Thus, it is obvious that of all the emerging blocs of regional forces in the world, the Latin American regional bloc is one of the weakest links. Latin American countries are well aware that neutrality is a foreign policy tool that allows them to position themselves in the international arena and choose, without conditions, which partners to establish political and economic ties with. But neutrality cannot be completely neutral, as the example of Switzerland or the Scandinavian countries demonstrates.

Until recently, this disparity in the geopolitical landscape was effectively used by such countries as China, Turkey, Iran and a number of Persian Gulf countries, forming a new system of international relations, which can be defined as “authoritarian pluralism” – tolerance of authoritarian countries to each other within the framework of the formula “your enemy is my friend”.

Surprisingly, this idea is also supported by the new European and American right, uniting in an anti-liberal alliance[5]. They promote the idea that horizontal dialogue, as opposed to Western vertical monologue, requires a transformation of international relations. Fully aware that most of the “peripheral” regions were deprived of wealth and resources during the last thirty years of neoliberalism on a global scale (and this was under the direct control of both the IMF and the World Bank), they today increasingly talk about transmodernism, a utopian project that the Argentine philosopher Enrique Dussel proposes to go beyond the Euro-Atlantic version of modernity.

Instead of projects of state capitalism centered on bureaucratic state administration and hierarchical power structures, the “socialization of power” strategy privileges global and local struggles to create collective, non-state forms of public power. The socialization of power also implies the formation of global institutions of public power that go beyond state borders in order to guarantee equality and social justice in the production, reproduction and distribution of world wealth and resources, as the well-known Peruvian intellectual Anibal Quijano speaks about in his writings. If the transmodernism of Enrique Dussel leads to diversification as a universal project for the transformation of Eurocentric modernity, then the socialization of power by Anibal Quijano is a call for the formation of a new radical anti-systemic universal order, or, in other words, it proposes to “fight for a world in which other worlds are possible” .

A world without superpowers

Fyodor Lukyanov, Oleg Barabanov, Timofei Bordachev, Yaroslav Lisovolik, Andrei Sushentsov, Ivan Timofeev

World politics quickly began to return to an anarchic state based on the power component. The “end of history” ended with the restoration of its usual course – the destruction of the world order occurs as a result of large-scale conflicts between centers of power.

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Footnotes

[1] Gramsci A. Cuadernos de la cárcel . Edición crítica del Instituto Gramsci a cargo de Valentino Gerratana // Ediciones Era. Universidad Aurónoma de Puebla. Vol. 2. 1999.

[2] Harris J., Sullivan J. America Needs a New Economic Philosophy // Foreign Policy. 07/20/2020. URL: https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/02/07/america-needs-a-new-economic-philosophy-foreign-policy-experts-can-help/ (accessed 04/07/2023).

[3] DeLong J. B. Slouching Towards Utopia. An Economic History of the Twentieth Century . Basic Books, 2022.

[4] Suárez F. Guerra, intervención, paz internacional . Espasa-Calpe, 1956.

[5] Walter D. Mignolo, Coloniality Is Far from Over, and So Must Be Decoloniality // Journal of Art, Context and Enquiry.