Early in the presidency of Dmitry Medvedev, many in the West were hoping for a turn away from state corruption and toward the rule of law in Russia. Unfortunately that train has now left the station.

From Moscow to Brasilia to Beijing, there has emerged a consensus around sovereignty and non-interference as the new organizing principles of international affairs. With the gradual decline of American unipolarity, the new players are seeking to redefine the global economic architecture, and rule-based institutions do not figure highly among their priorities.