Exit from Hegemony

Raymond's work enriches our understanding of the international norms-making process that provides structure global governance. * Zheng Chen, China International Strategy Review *
In this important book, Cooley and Nexon provide one of the best guides to understanding how global orders rise and fall. * G. John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs *
Cooley and Nexon's assessments are refreshingly blunt. * Howard French, New York Review of Books *
Simultaneously pitched to international relations theorists, to assorted analysts, and to the educated, media-savvy general reader, Exit from Hegemony is a major achievement. The first reason is its conceptual clarity. "International order," we learn, is but a convenient shorthand. Rather than a discrete, bounded, and differentiated "thing," the phrase can refer only to relative stabilities in state interactions and related goings-on. This is why Cooley and Nexon conceptualize international ordering — their preferred term — as an ecosystem constituted by rules, norms, and values, on the one hand, and everyday routines, flows, and practices on the other...This framework helps us understand how "the American hegemonic system" and the broader international order co-emerged over time and space, and across institutional settings, and why attempts to revise that system are not necessarily anti-American in character. * Srdjan Vucetic, Literary Review of Canada *
They make a strong case for distinguishing between the old hegemonic order and the larger international order of which it is a part. As they put it, 'global international order is not synonymous with American hegemony.' They also make careful distinctions between the different components of what is often simply called the 'liberal international order': political liberalism, economic liberalism, and liberal intergovernmentalism. * Daniel Larison, The American Conservative *
We live in a world where the liberal order created by the United States is under increasing challenge. The great virtue of Cooley and Nexon's book is that it uses sophisticated theory to explore how different kinds of challenges — from other great powers, from smaller states looking to subvert the order, from social movements and sub-state actors — can interact and reinforce each other. This book will be of interest not only to international relations scholars but to anyone who wants to understand how the world is changing. * Henry Farrell, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University *
How will the US-led order end? This smart book outlines three different pathways: defections from the order by revisionist powers, exits from the order by smaller and weaker states, and counter order movements. Though trends in all three began far before 2016 and made the election of President Trump more likely, Trump's policies have also accelerated their unfolding. By showing how these different pathways could work, and influence one another, Cooley and Nexon offer a sobering analysis useful for both understanding the contemporary global political situation and working to change it. * Deborah Avant, Sié Chéou-Kang Chair for International Security and Diplomacy, Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver *
A whirlwind tour of the international system in the waning days of American dominance. Exploring how kleptocratic finance, transnational illiberalism, and Chinese expansion have reshaped modern politics, Exit from Hegemony offers a vivid portrait of a global order in decline. As America's unipolar moment draws to a close, Cooley and Nexon provide an essential and much-needed guide for the turbulent transition ahead. * Seva Gunitsky, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto *