The Once and Future World Order: Why Global Civilization Will Survive the Decline of the West

本書闡述了世界秩序的過去、現在與未來，提出一個「恰逢其時」的論點，認為西方政權的衰落對全球而言可能是一件好事。
自21世紀初以來，西方一直處於危機之中。社會動盪、政治極化以及其他大國，特別是中國的崛起，威脅著今天由西方主導的世界秩序。許多人擔心這將導致全球混亂。但事實上，西方從來未曾壟斷過秩序。
政治學家阿米塔夫·阿查亞(Amitav Acharya)回顧了五千年的全球歷史，揭示了世界秩序——使國家之間得以合作與和平的政治架構——早在西方崛起之前就已存在。從古代的蘇美、印度、希臘與美索不達米亞，到中世紀的哈里發國和歐亞帝國，阿查亞展示了人道價值、經濟相互依賴和國際行為規則如何在全球範圍內流傳千年。歷史表明，儘管西方退場，秩序仍將延續。事實上，西方主導的結束為我們提供了建立更美好世界的機會，讓非西方國家擁有更多的發言權、權力和繁榮的可能性。西方國家應該從歷史中學習，與其他國家合作，打造一個更公平的世界秩序。

Since the dawn of the twenty-first century, the West has been in crisis. Social unrest, political polarization, and the rise of other great powers—especially China—threaten to unravel today’s Western-led world order. Many fear this would lead to global chaos. But the West has never had a monopoly on order.

Surveying five thousand years of global history, political scientist Amitav Acharya reveals that world order—the political architecture enabling cooperation and peace among nations—existed long before the rise of the West. Moving from ancient Sumer, India, Greece, and Mesoamerica, through medieval caliphates and Eurasian empires into the present, Acharya shows that humanitarian values, economic interdependence, and rules of inter-state conduct emerged across the globe over millennia. History suggests order will endure even as the West retreats. In fact, the end of Western dominance offers us the opportunity to build a better world, where non-Western nations find more voice, power, and prosperity. Instead of fearing the future, the West should learn from history and cooperate with the Rest to forge a more equitable order.

This is the definitive account of how world order evolved and why it will survive the decline of the West.