After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the new world order paradigm has been one of the most debated issues within academia and among political elites. Since the early 1990 s, many experts and politicians, including U.S. Presidents, declared that a new world order was emerging. However, there has been neither a consensus reached, nor complex research undertaken to conceptualize this phenomenon. What would be the new world order? How would it be brought about? How would it be run? Who would benefit from it? And who would lose? It is unlikely that these complex issues can be addressed in a single brochure. Moreover, a theoretical and conceptual overview of the new world order paradigm is essential to undertake further fundamental research on the subject. Therefore, this brochure attempts to serve as a matrix for such a research and a prism through which the new world order can be examined. In doing so, it integrates major approaches of the different schools of thought. Finally, this will allow to view possible scenarios of the establishment of a system of global governance.