Towards a global multiplex

Amitav Acharya’s The Once and Future World Order provides an alternative to the standard discourse about modern civilisation having evolved in the West

- Sujan Chinoy

A timely tome by Amitav Acharya, who teaches global affairs at American University, Washington, DC, The Once and Future World Order draws on historical examples to convey a sense of cautious optimism, not about a peaceful world but about a more inclusive one.

The introduction is a lucidly written essay that captures the inegalitarian world historically created by the myths of Western supremacy. He laments that the West itself has contributed to the instability, injustice and disorder we see around us today. There is deep irony in his suggestion that the decline of the West, in fact, is likely to ease some of these challenges.

The indictment here is that the Western-dominated order that has existed for some centuries, curated by domination, subjugation and exploitation by a colonial concert, ‘was never as benign as made out by many scholars and historians. Even the formal global order represented by the treaty-based UN system founded in 1945 is hardly egalitarian even though the UN Charter advocates equality. The author points out a dark truth about the Versailles Conference. When negotiations were underway to establish the League of Nations, US President Woodrow ‘Wilson, apparently with the support of Britain and Australia, resisted the insertion of a “racial equality” clause proposed by Japan. This, even as he was promoting democracy and self-determination around the world.