Overview

Five hundred years of Western hegemony has ended, while the global majority's aspiration for a world order based on multipolarity and sovereign equality is rising. This incisive book addresses the demise of liberal hegemony, though pointing out that a multipolar Westphalian world order has not yet taken shape, leaving the world in a period of interregnum. A legal vacuum has emerged, in which the conflicting sides are competing to define the future order. NATO expansionism was an important component of liberal hegemony as it was intended to cement the collective hegemony of the West as the foundation for a liberal democratic peace. Instead, it dismantled the pan-European security architecture and set Europe on the path to war without the possibility of a course correction. Ukraine as a divided country in a divided Europe has been a crucial pawn in the great power competition between NATO and Russia for the past three decades. The war in Ukraine is a symptom of the collapsing world order. The war revealed the dysfunction of liberal hegemony in terms of both power and legitimacy, and it sparked a proxy war between the West and Russia instead of ensuring peace, the source of its legitimacy. The proxy war, unprecedented sanctions, and efforts to isolate Russia in the wider world contributed to the demise of liberal hegemony as opposed to its revival. Much of the world responded to the war by intensifying their transition to a Eurasian world order that rejects hegemony and liberal universalism. The economic architecture is being reorganised as the world diversifies away from excessive reliance on Western technologies, industries, transportation corridors, banks, payment systems, insurance systems, and currencies. Universalism based on Western values is replaced by civilisational distinctiveness, sovereign inequality is swapped with sovereign equality, socialising inferiors is replaced by negotiations, and the rules-based international order is discarded in favour of international law. A Westphalian world order is reasserting itself, although with Eurasian characteristics. The West's defeat of Russia would restore the unipolar world order while a Russian victory would cement a multipolar one. The international system is now at its most dangerous as the prospect of compromise is absent, meaning the winner will take all. Both NATO under US direction and Russia are therefore prepared to take great risks and escalate, making nuclear wan increasingly likely.

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9781949762952

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Reviews

"""An important read. Important insights - as we need to face up to the unwelcome task of challenging our own preconceptions and having to navigate in an unfamiliar (non-western) landscape - where old steady handholds simply - are no longer present. No longer there."" Alastair Crooke, former ranking figure in both British intelligence and European Union diplomacy ""What luck! Professor Diesen takes the role of Christopher, patron saint of travelers, as we stumble across the threshold into 2024 - a truly liminal year. With laudable candor, Diesen presents little-known facts - on Ukraine, for example - showing how we arrived at this dangerous juncture. If facts lead to action, we may yet survive the demise of the tottering hegemon of the West."" Ray McGovern, former CIA Presidential Briefer ""A superb book! Diesen dismantles the war propaganda and outlines why the Ukraine War is a symptom of a collapsing world order"". -- Clare Daly, Member of the European Parliament ""A wide-ranging and stimulating examination of contesting models of world order and the roots of the Russo-Ukrainian war. A corrective to mainstream Western narratives, providing a powerful conceptual framework for critique. A brilliant foundational work."" -- Richard Sakwa, University of Kent ""Brilliant, in-depth analysis of the roots of the Ukraine war and the emerging changes in the world order."" -- Jack F Matlock, Jr, U.S. Ambassador to the USSR, 1987-1991 ""Diesen has written a terrific book about the emerging world order. The multipolar system that is now forming, he argues, has the potential to be much more peaceful than the US-dominated unipolar moment that recently ended. But the Ukraine war, a legacy of American policy during unipolarity, has poisoned international politics and made it difficult to transition to a more harmonious Westphalian order. A must read for anyone who wants to understand the great shift in the global distribution of power that is taking place before our eyes."" -JOHN J. MEARSHEIMER, .R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago. ""Excellent book! Glenn Diesen offers a highly informative analysis of the change and continuity of world order over the centuries. Must read to understand the complexity of the Ukraine War as a historical inflection point"" -- - Sergey Karaganov - Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, Russia Honorary Chairman of the Presidium"

"""Diesen has written a terrific book about the emerging world order. The multipolar system that is now forming, he argues, has the potential to be much more peaceful than the US-dominated unipolar moment that recently ended. But the Ukraine war, a legacy of American policy during unipolarity, has poisoned international politics and made it difficult to transition to a more harmonious Westphalian order. A must read for anyone who wants to understand the great shift in the global distribution of power that is taking place before our eyes."" JOHN J. MEARSHEIMER, .R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago."

"""A most thoughtful and realistic account of the evolution of the world order, the perils that transitions in it create, and the relationship of these to the tragic conflict in Ukraine. Diesen dispels and replaces the fog of war with the much-needed clarity of historically informed reason."" AMBASSADOR CHAS FREEMAN, Former U.S. assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs ""Apart from a meticulous deconstruction of the proxy war in Ukraine that devastatingly debunks, with proven facts, the official NATOstan narrative, Diesen offers a concise, easily accessible mini-history of how we got here....Diesen is one of the very few Western analysts who actually understands the drive to multipolarity."" PEPE ESCOBAR, Zerohedge.com ""An important read. Important insights - as we need to face up to the unwelcome task of challenging our own preconceptions and having to navigate in an unfamiliar (non-western) landscape - where old steady handholds simply - are no longer present. No longer there."" Alastair Crooke, former British diplomat ""What luck! Professor Diesen takes the role of Christopher, patron saint of travelers, as we stumble across the threshold into 2024 - a truly liminal year. With laudable candor, Diesen presents little-known facts - on Ukraine, for example - showing how we arrived at this dangerous juncture. If facts lead to action, we may yet survive the demise of the tottering hegemon of the West."" Ray McGovern, former CIA Presidential Briefer ""A superb book! Diesen dismantles the war propaganda and outlines why the Ukraine War is a symptom of a collapsing world order"". -- Clare Daly, Member of the European Parliament ""A wide-ranging and stimulating examination of contesting models of world order and the roots of the Russo-Ukrainian war. A corrective to mainstream Western narratives, providing a powerful conceptual framework for critique. A brilliant foundational work."" -- Richard Sakwa, University of Kent ""Brilliant, in-depth analysis of the roots of the Ukraine war and the emerging changes in the world order."" -- Jack F Matlock, Jr, U.S. Ambassador to the USSR, 1987-1991 ""Diesen has written a terrific book about the emerging world order. The multipolar system that is now forming, he argues, has the potential to be much more peaceful than the US-dominated unipolar moment that recently ended. But the Ukraine war, a legacy of American policy during unipolarity, has poisoned international politics and made it difficult to transition to a more harmonious Westphalian order. A must read for anyone who wants to understand the great shift in the global distribution of power that is taking place before our eyes."" -JOHN J. MEARSHEIMER, .R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago. ""Excellent book! Glenn Diesen offers a highly informative analysis of the change and continuity of world order over the centuries. Must read to understand the complexity of the Ukraine War as a historical inflection point"" -- - Sergey Karaganov - Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, Russia Honorary Chairman of the Presidium"

"""A superb book! Diesen dismantles the war propaganda and outlines why the Ukraine War is a symptom of a collapsing world order"". -- Clare Daly, Member of the European Parliament ""A wide-ranging and stimulating examination of contesting models of world order and the roots of the Russo-Ukrainian war. A corrective to mainstream Western narratives, providing a powerful conceptual framework for critique. A brilliant foundational work."" -- Richard Sakwa, University of Kent ""Brilliant, in-depth analysis of the roots of the Ukraine war and the emerging changes in the world order."" -- Jack F Matlock, Jr, U.S. Ambassador to the USSR, 1987-1991 ""Diesen has written a terrific book about the emerging world order. The multipolar system that is now forming, he argues, has the potential to be much more peaceful than the US-dominated unipolar moment that recently ended. But the Ukraine war, a legacy of American policy during unipolarity, has poisoned international politics and made it difficult to transition to a more harmonious Westphalian order. A must read for anyone who wants to understand the great shift in the global distribution of power that is taking place before our eyes."" -JOHN J. MEARSHEIMER, .R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago. ""Excellent book! Glenn Diesen offers a highly informative analysis of the change and continuity of world order over the centuries. Must read to understand the complexity of the Ukraine War as a historical inflection point"" -- - Sergey Karaganov - Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, Russia Honorary Chairman of the Presidium"

Author Information

Glenn Diesen is a professor at the University of Southeast Norway (USN) and an associate editor at the Russia in Global Affairs journal. Diesen's research focus is Russia's transition from the Greater European Initiative to the Greater Eurasian Partnership. Diesen has previously published nine books, a multitude of journal articles, and is a frequent contributor to international media. Recent titles include: The Return of Eurasia. Palgrave Macmillan with Alexander Lukin and The Think Tank Racket (Clarity Press).

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