Exit from Hegemony

The Unraveling of the American Global Order

Alexander Cooley and Daniel Nexon

Offers a definitive guide to why the US-led order is fundamentally transforming
Argues that American hegemony is ending and identifies four ways in which the nations can lose power
Specifies the different mechanisms that will endure even if the US tries to reassert its international leadership in a post-Trump era
Grapples with 'hot topics' in contemporary foreign-policy debates: the rise of China, Russian support for the transnational right and information warfare against the West, and Trump and the fate of liberal order
Redefines power to be inclusive of networks, cultural connections, and NGOs
Applies a large body of social-science theory to discuss international relations, in particular among the US, Russia, and China

Exit from Hegemony

The Unraveling of the American Global Order

Alexander Cooley and Daniel Nexon

Description

We live in a period of great uncertainty about the fate of America's global leadership. Many believe that Donald Trump's presidency marks the end of liberal international order-the very system of global institutions, rules, and values that shaped the American international system since the end of World War II. Trump's repeated rejection of liberal order, criticisms of long-term allies of the US, and affinity for authoritarian leaders certainly undermines the American international system, but the truth is that liberal international order has been quietly eroding for at least 15 years.

In Exit from Hegemony, Alexander Cooley and Daniel Nexon develop a new, integrated approach to understanding the rise and decline of hegemonic orders. Their approach identifies three distinct ways in which the liberal international order is undergoing fundamental transformation. First, Russia and China have targeted the order, positioning themselves as revisionist powers by establishing alternative regional institutions and pushing counter-norms. Second, weaker states are hollowing out the order by seeking patronage and security partnership from nations outside of the order, such as Saudi Arabia and China. Even though they do not always seek to disrupt American hegemony, these new patron-client relationships lack the same liberal political and economic conditions as those involving the United States and its democratic allies. Third, a new series of transnational networks emphasizing illiberalism, nationalism, and right-wing values increasing challenges the anti-authoritarian, progressive transnational networks of the 1990s. These three pathways erode the primacy of the liberal international order from above, laterally, and from below. The Trump administration, with its "America First" doctrine, accelerates all three processes, critically lessening America's position as a world power.

Exit from Hegemony

The Unraveling of the American Global Order

Alexander Cooley and Daniel Nexon

List of Tables and Figures
Foreword
Chapter 1 - Introduction: This Time is Different
Chapter 2 - The American Hegemonic System in Theoretical and Historical Perspective
Chapter 3 - How Hegemonic Orders Unravel
Chapter 4 - Exit from Above: Russia and China Seek to Transform the International Order
Chapter 5 - Exit from Below: Regime Security, Exit Options and the Rise of New External Patrons
Chapter 6 - Exit from Within: Right-Wing Transnationalism as Counter-Order Movements
Chapter 7 - Exit Made in America: The Trump Presidency
Chapter 8 - Conclusions: Heading for the Exit
Apppendix
Index

Exit from Hegemony

The Unraveling of the American Global Order

Alexander Cooley and Daniel Nexon

Author Information

Alexander Cooley is Director of Columbia University's Harriman Institute for the study of Russia, Eurasia and Eastern Europe and the Claire Tow Professor of Political Science at Barnard College of Columbia University. His books include Great Games, Local Rules: The New Great Power Contest in Central Asia (Oxford), Ranking the World: Grading States as a Tool of Global Governance, and Dictators without Borders: Power and Money in Central Asia. In addition to his academic work, Professor Cooley serves on a range of international advisory bodies and working groups engaged with the region and has testified for Congressional committees on Eurasian issues.

Daniel Nexon is an Associate Professor in the Department of Government and the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He has held fellowships from Stanford University's Center for International Security, Cooperation and at the Ohio State University's Mershon Center for International Studies. From 2009-2010, he was a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow in the US Department of Defense. In 2016, he helped coordinate the unofficial foreign-policy group for the Bernie Sanders campaign, and he remains active in efforts to forge progressive foreign policy principles. He is the author of The Struggle for Power in Early Modern Europe: Religious Conflict, Dynastic Empires, and International Change. He founded, and used to blog, at The Duck of Minerva. He currently blogs at Lawyers, Guns and Money.

Exit from Hegemony

The Unraveling of the American Global Order

Alexander Cooley and Daniel Nexon

Reviews and Awards

"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

"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