by Kawa Mahmoud
Over the past years, China has put forward four global initiatives, which are interlinked thematically and dialectically, aiming to reinforce the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind and strive to build sound international relations based on coexistence, equality, civilizational interaction, and win-win cooperation, while taking into account the interests, sovereignty, and fundamental choices of peoples.
These four initiatives encompass global development, global security, global civilization and global governance. They represent renewed intellectual dimensions within Marxist theory and a clear scientific approach. Beyond their domestic significance, they also form a vital component in strengthening China’s foreign policy and its future vision amid today’s accelerated changes in the global landscape.
Historical experience has shown that countering hegemonic policies and suffocating crises requires careful reading and deep analysis of the post-Cold War era and the subsequent evolution of global multipolarity within diverse political and economic systems, in order to sustain internationalist struggles and focus efforts on common tasks such as combating poverty and unemployment, ending wars, achieving shared development, protecting environment and bridging the development gap in Global South countries.
The new orientations of global governance did not emerge from a vacuum. With the continuous deepening of China's reform and opening up and its reflection on its foreign policy, China’s four initiatives that mentioned above emerged as part of a continuous interpretation of the ever-changing international situation.
From this perspective, the Global Governance Initiative is also approach grounded in wisdom, intelligence and innovation in response to global transformations, and requires global participation, contribution and dialogue to strengthen it. This initiative emphasizes peace, common development and mutual benefit, highlights balanced and comprehensive cooperation as a matter of shared concern, and calls for peaceful means to address crises and conflicts.
As a continuation of the trajectory of Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and Global Civilization Initiative, China announced Global Governance Initiative during Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit 2025, which calls working together toward a fairer and more equitable global governance system, and articulated five key principles: adhering to sovereign equality, abiding by international rule of law, practicing multilateralism, advocating the people-centered approach and focusing on taking real actions
while the shadows of Cold War mentality, hegemonism and protectionism continue to haunt the world, and new threats and challenges keep stacking up, the historical trends of peace, development, cooperation, and mutual benefit remain unchanged. All countries, regardless of size and power, should be equal partners, decision-makers, and beneficiaries in global governance, there must be no double standards, nor should the domestic rules of some states be imposed upon others.
The Global Governance Initiative reflects respect for shared human values, a realistic understanding of the nature of contemporary hegemony, and a belief in the possibility of achieving a qualitative transformation toward just international relations.
At their core, the four initiatives provide resolutions for resolving disputes, easing tensions and promoting joint participation in opposing hegemony and power politics, in order to address humanity’s common challenges more effectively, narrow the North-South development gap, safeguard the shared interests of all countries, and work toward global stability, tolerance and peace.
Editor's note: Kawa Mahmoud is former secretary of the Central Committee of the Kurdistan Communist Party/Iraq.