NU's diplomatic framework in facing world multipolarity
Contemporary civilisation is witnessing the fracturing of a single geopolitical system. The world is rapidly shifting towards a multipolar order, where the hegemonic rivalry between the United States and China is no longer the sole determining compass.
Beyond these two giants, regional powers such as India and Russia, as well as the political articulation of the Global South through the expansion of the BRICS alliance, confirm the rise of strategic autonomy in various corners of the globe.
In this fragmented landscape, middle powers are acting realistically. Indonesia, for example, is applying a multi-alignment calculation to safeguard its sovereignty amid global order uncertainty (Setiyaningsih et al., 2026).
The balancing of economic partnership with China, running in parallel with the counterbalancing of security cooperation with the United States and Japan in mid-2026, demonstrates a diplomatic philosophy that no longer rests on single-bloc loyalty.
When the reality of formal power is locked into the rationality calculations of states, international diplomacy finds new space accelerated by non-state actors.
It is at this intersection that Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) finds its historical calling. As a socio-religious entity encompassing more than 100 million people, NU possesses not only demographic legitimacy but also moral capital and a deeply rooted pesantren scholarly tradition.
This religious authority acts as soft power that transcends the logic of formal power accumulation. Without the burden of territorial geopolitics or military doctrine, NU has the organic latitude to cross the world’s ideological divides.
The vulnerability of multipolarity becomes increasingly apparent when conventional crises peak, such as the military escalation between the United States and Iran in the Middle East region in 2026.
At a time when formal diplomacy between states often reaches deadlock due to sovereignty claims, Nahdlatul Ulama is taking the path of second-track diplomacy.
Through the PBNU’s proactive response to a number of diplomatic representatives as well as a moral appeal in mid-2026 to de-escalate violence in Tehran and Washington, NU is testing its effectiveness and courage as a bridge for dialogue amid the thick rivalry of contending great powers.
This diplomatic practice is in fact part of a tested historical consciousness. On 31 January 1926, the establishment of the Hijaz Committee—a small committee chaired by KH Abdul Wahab Chasbullah tasked with meeting King Ibn Saud in the Hijaz, Saudi Arabia—marked the birth of the first non-state diplomacy by Nusantara ulama in the struggle for freedom of madhhab before King Ibn Saud.
The track record