Lecture
LUCIR book lecture: Do We Need a Hegemon to Maintain International Order?
- Date
- Wednesday 10 December 2025
- Time
- Address
-
Wijnhaven
Turfmarkt 99
2511 DP The Hague - Room
- 3.48
About this seminar
Join this LUCIR lecture about the book 'Divergent Worlds: What the Ancient Mediterranean and Indian Ocean Can Tell Us About the Future of International Order', by Amitav Acharya and Manjeet S. Pardesi.
What comes after American hegemony? In this book, Acharya and Pardesi compare the interplay of power and ideas in the ancient Mediterranean and Indian Ocean to explain why the two regions took divergent paths to peace and stability. They also discuss its lessons for international order today. While the ancient Mediterranean order was shaped by the hegemony of Rome, the Indian Ocean developed an open and inclusive international order without the dominance of any single power. Moreover, the Indian Ocean provides a more robust example of the peaceful spread of ideas and culture than the ancient Mediterranean where Hellenization or the spread of Greek ideas was often accompanied by violence and imperialism. Applying the divergent experiences of the two regions, the book argues that the history the Indian Ocean before European colonization offers a more useful framework for reshaping world order as the US- and Western- dominated Liberal International Order comes to an end. The Indian Ocean framework points to an alternative model of order building, a multiplex rather than a multipolar approach, that could sustain efforts to build peace and stability in the emerging Indo-Pacific region.
About Manjeet S. Pardesi
Manjeet S. Pardesi is Associate Professor of International Relations in the Political Science and International Relations Programme, and Asia Research Fellow at the Centre for Strategic Studies at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington. His research interests include World Orders and Global History, Great Power Politics, Asian security, and the Sino-Indian rivalry. His most recent book, Divergent Worlds: What the Ancient Mediterranean and Indian Ocean Can Tell Us About the Future of International Order (co-authored with Amitav Acharya) was published by Yale University Press in 2025. He is the co-author of The Sino-Indian Rivalry: Implications for Global Order (with Sumit Ganguly and William R. Thompson, Cambridge University Press, 2023).
Join the event
This event is open to all Leiden University staff and students. While registration is not required, it is important to bring your LU-card to enter the Wijnhaven building.