Bioethics and the World Order: A Curious Coincidence Between Chinese and African Approaches

The post-1945 world order is standardly pictured as a Westphalian system, in which each state is equal under the law with sovereign authority over its territories. This paper argues that the Westphalian system is changing and examines the implications for bioethics. We show that cross-border health, economic, ecologic, and sociopolitical risks defy a Westphalian view and propose an alternative approach that draws insights from Chinese-Confucian tianxia (all-under-heaven) and African ubuntu (humanness). Sections I and II introduce the Westphalian system and highlight key challenges. Sections III through V introduce Chinese and African views and identify convergences between them. Section VI proposes the narrative of a 'global village' to capture these convergences and demonstrates its advantages over a Westphalian narrative using the example of climate change, while also acknowledging the importance of retaining certain elements of the Westphalian system. Section VII concludes that African and Chinese approaches furnish a promising path forward for bioethics.