The Order of the World

The order of the world is one of the major problems that nations find themselves confronted with. Who creates order in the anarchy of the international system if the relationships between nations become increasingly dense and the need for an international order is growing as a consequence of globalization?

A unified world-nation is utopian; the voluntary cooperation of nations by the means of treaties, membership in international organizations and abiding international law is stretched to its limits time and again when important interests are at stake.
Ulrich Menzel formulates a theory of international order through a comparative analysis of major powers – from the China of the Song-rule up until the USA today – and in doing so renders an essential contribution to the current debate on hegemony and imperialism that has gathered new momentum after the end of the Cold War. At the same time, he delivers an interpretation of the Cold War as a conflict between American hegemony and Soviet empire as well as of the new constellation at the beginning of the 21st century that is shaped by the global struggle for dominance between the USA as a weakened hegemonic power and China as the new hegemonic challenger.

»Beyond all normative claims, this book is a fascinating global-historical contemplation of transnational relationships.« Damals, Das Magazin für Geschichte