The End of American World Order - Hardcover

Acharya, Amitav

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0745672477 ISBN 13: 9780745672472

Publisher: Polity, 2014

Synopsis

The age of Western hegemony is over. Whether or not America itself is declining, the post-war liberal world order underpinned by US military, economic and ideological primacy and supported by global institutions serving its power and purpose, is coming to an end. But what will take its place? A Chinese world order? A re-constituted form of American hegemony? A regionalized system of global cooperation, including major and emerging powers?
In this timely and provocative book, Amitav Acharya offers an incisive answer to this fundamental question. While the US will remain a major force in world affairs, he argues that it has lost the ability to shape world order after its own interests and image. As a result, the US will be one of a number of anchors including emerging powers, regional forces, and a concert of the old and new powers shaping a new world order. Rejecting labels such as multipolar, apolar, or G-Zero, Acharya likens the emerging system to a multiplex theatre, offering a choice of plots (ideas), directors (power), and action (leadership) under one roof. Finally, he reflects on the policies that the US, emerging powers and regional actors must pursue to promote stability in this decentred but interdependent, multiplex world.

Written by a leading scholar of the international relations of the non-Western world, and rising above partisan punditry, this book represents a major contribution to debates over the post-American era.

About this title

About the Author

Amitav Acharya is Professor of International Relations at American University.

Review

"In this challenging and stimulating book Amitav Acharya does not assume that the US is in terminal decline or will not continue to play a central role in world affairs. Rather he makes the much more interesting - and compelling - argument that the liberal order the United States created after World War II is on the wane with results that might be far less disturbing and dangerous than many Americans have hitherto assumed. A subtle and compelling study on one of the great issues of our day. A work that is bound to provoke widespread debate amongst policy-makers and academics alike."
?Michael Cox, London School of Economics

"An important contribution to the building debate over how to sustain international order in an era of profound change. Acharya foresees a more regionalized and pluralist order - a decentered world, but one linked together by networks and institutions. His vision is not just creative and provocative, but also a compelling prediction of where the world is likely headed."
?Charles Kupchan, Georgetown University

"The End of American World Order is thus extremely valuable contribution to the debate about the future of global order. Acharya's analysis is refreshing because its perspective is neither US-centric (such as the vast majority of leading thinkers in the discipline) nor anti-American."
?Post-Western World

?One does not have to go along with the alarmist view that the decline of the U.S. power is a harbinger of some global catastrophe or a bleak future. As succinctly and optimistically argued by Amitav Acharya, this decline, indeed, could very well be an unsurpassed saviour for both the U.S. and the rest of the world.?
Frontline

"Amitav Acharyas The End of American World Order belongs to a new wave of scholarship on American Decline that arose after the financial crisis in 2008. In this debate, few works are as lucid as Acharyas book. Amitav Acharya has proved once more to be a prolific writer and presented a new idea, which should be taken into consideration by policy makers and scholars alike."
Political Studies Review

About this edition

• Publisher: Polity
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0745672477
• ISBN 13: 9780745672472
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 150