Macron calls for new world order, warns against passivity

French President Emmanuel Macron delivered a sharp critique of the current global landscape Friday, urging the international community to reject passivity and actively build a new world order. Speaking to students at Yonsei University during his visit to South Korea, Macron said decades of relative stability and established norms are now “up and down.” “We should not just be passive in this new disorder,” he warned. “We have to build a new order.” He called for a system based on cooperation among “able and willing countries” that form what he described as a “coalition of independence.”

Rejecting US-China rivalry

Macron argued that nations should not become “vessels of two hegemonic powers,” referring to the United States and China. He warned against falling under China’s “dominance” while also expressing concern over the “unpredictability” of the United States—a notable critique given Washington’s ongoing military campaign in Iran and Trump’s threats to withdraw from NATO. The French president stressed that countries need to avoid over-dependence on either superpower and instead forge their own paths through strategic autonomy.

Call for renewed cooperation

Macron also emphasized the importance of reviving international cooperation in research and science, lamenting what he called a “fragmentation” of collaboration in recent years. He accused some nations of blocking partnerships and cutting funding in key areas, describing such actions as “a betrayal of the spirit of coordination and cooperation that we need.” “We should stop competing for a while,” he said, “and say how to build the right compromise and work together.” For Türkiye, which has long advocated for a multipolar world order and maintains independent foreign policies balancing ties with both East and West, Macron’s vision aligns with Ankara’s own calls for strategic autonomy. As NATO faces internal divisions over the Iran war, Macron’s remarks underscore growing European appetite for a less US-centric global framework.