Trialectics and global relationality

This article advances ‘trialectics’ as a nondualist methodology for Global International Relations (IR), addressing the persistent dualisms that continue to shape both conventional and critical approaches to world politics. While acknowledging Hegelian dialectics’ movement towards subject–object unity, this article argues that its methodological trajectory remains structured through binary relations of identity and non-identity. By contrast, trialectics foregrounds a third, mediating dimension – single hidden oneness – that underpins and transcends apparent contradictions and complementarities. Drawing on Daoist and Advaita philosophical traditions, trialectics conceptualizes reality as simultaneously one and many, allowing for experiential moments of subject–object collapse that move beyond binary thinking without erasing plurality. As a nondualist methodology, it reorients Global IR towards the study of global relationality, challenging geocentric divisions such as West/non-West while recognizing the entangled character of self, other and nature. This article further demonstrates the practical significance of trialectics through environmental governance, showing how a nondualist orientation reframes apparently competing priorities as expressions of a deeper relational unity rather than as binary trade-offs. By integrating methodological innovation with practical application, trialectics contributes to the development of a post-binary Global IR capable of investigating global politics beyond entrenched spatial, epistemic and civilizational divides.