The world is in a state of disorder.
As we approach the end of the second decade of the twenty-first century, all about us is chaos. The rise of the East is viewed with scepticism and fear by the West. The international liberal order is facing a moment of crisis. With Darwinism (or the survival of the strongest and fittest) having guided the construction and management of international systems of governance for seven decades, it is no surprise that as sweeping change overtakes the world, there are no longer many takers for these arrangements. Globalization is confronted by economic nationalism. Strong leaders are exploiting the grievances of citizens (whether imagined or real) to discard global ideals and champion local interests. And the prospects of a ‘global village’, of the world coming ever closer together, seem to be in reversal. A zero-sum approach to development and the securitization of growth are creating new potential for conflict at a time when the institutions of global governance are weaker than ever before.
The New World Disorder and the Indian Imperative is a major study of this new world order. In tracing the roots of our current predicaments to the inequity of the post-war international structure, it explains the situation that obtains at present. The book identifies the new actors and ideas that will emerge from the remnants of the old dispensation to script the architecture of the twenty-first century. India, the authors argue, has a major role to play in shaping the regimes of the future given its size, growing clout, and stake in practically every major multilateral organization. India’s sustained commitment to constitutional democracy and its unique identity as a non-hegemonic global power will be central to its leadership role.
In today’s multipolar, contested, and uncertain world, India may well be the only country with the credentials and capability to script an equitable ethic for a new international order.
About the Author
DR SHASHI THAROOR is the bestselling author of nineteen books, both fiction and non-fiction, besides being a noted critic and columnist. His books include the path-breaking satire The Great Indian Novel (1989), the classic India: From Midnight to the Millennium (1997), the bestselling An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India, for which he won the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, 2016, for Books (Non-Fiction), and most recently, The Paradoxical Prime Minister: Narendra Modi and His India and The Hindu Way: An Introduction to Hinduism. He was a former Under Secretary-General of the United Nations and a former Minister of State for Human Resource Development and Minister of State for External Affairs in the Government of India. He is a three-time member of the Lok Sabha from Thiruvananthapuram and chairs Parliament’s Standing Committee on Information Technology (IT). He has won numerous literary awards, including a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, and was honoured as New Age Politician of the Year (2010) by NDTV. He was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, India’s highest honour for overseas Indians. He was given the Crossword Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.
DR SAMIR SARAN is the President of Observer Research Foundation, one of Asia’s most influential think tanks. He writes frequently on India’s foreign policy, and issues of global governance, climate change, energy policy, global development architecture, artificial intelligence, cyber security and internet governance. He is the author of four books, numerous academic papers, and is featured regularly in Indian and international print and broadcast media. He curates the Raisina Dialogue, India’s flagship platform on geopolitics and geo-economics, and chairs CyFy, India’s annual conference on technology, security and society. He is also a Commissioner of The Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace, member of the World Economic Forum’s South Asia advisory board and Global Future Council on Cybersecurity. He is the Director of the Centre for Peace and Security at the Sardar Patel Police University, Jodhpur, India.
Dr Saran completed his doctoral studies at the Global Sustainability Institute, UK. He holds a Master’s in Media Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK, and a Bachelor’s in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Manipal Institute of Technology, India.
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