The New World Disorder

The The New World Disorder presents a coruscating analysis of current international relations, highlighting the dangers the world faces if the West does not succeed in reinventing itself.

The West is facing an unprecedented crisis. Russia has launched a war of aggression against Ukraine, just months after the USA suffered a foreign policy debacle in Afghanistan. At the same time, China, the West's rival in the battle for system superiority, has long since become a decisive superpower.

Yet, the triumph of the West had seemed unstoppable not that long ago. After the end of the Cold War, the democratic market economy took hold in the former Eastern Bloc, Russia went from being an enemy to a partner, and even China turned to capitalism. Then came the major turning point: the terrorist attacks of 9/11 that shook the West. The American War on Terror destabilised an entire region of the world; the Arab Spring only brought forth new autocracies; and, following the annexation of Crimea, the confrontation with Russia intensified. Instead of a liberal world order, a new world disorder has emerged.

Peter R. Neumann, an internationally acclaimed expert on terrorism and geopolitics, shows how this transpired and what must happen now. He offers an unsparing critique of the current situation of the West, which has fatally overestimated itself.

'A far-sighted analysis of the world order, and an urgent warning of what the future may hold in store.'
- Peter Frankopan, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Silk Roads

'The New World Disorder is a great piece of work. In the face of countries such as China and Russia challenging the US-led international order, Neumann's book is a plea to Western countries to acknowledge their mistakes - but not to abandon the very values that have inspired others around the world.'
- Emma Sky, author of The Unravelling

'This is a lucid and immensely readable analysis of how our current polycrisis emerged, less from malign intent than from a failure to understand humanity as it is, not as we wish it was. Showing how there are fundamental differences of perspective and no global agreement on how societies should be run, it goes beyond despondency to provide an impressive, evidence-based argument for geopolitical pluralism.'
- John, Lord Alderdice, Senior Research Fellow, Harris Manchester College, Oxford, and Executive Chairman of the Changing Character of War Centre, Pembroke College, Oxford