The Disorderly Society - by Bobo Lo (Hardcover)

About the Book

In a broad and erudite narrative, Bobo Lo argues that the future of global governance is not in a return to dominant US leadership and great power competition but in a more inclusive and flexible order, driven by a common purpose in meeting universal challenges.

Book Synopsis

The liberal, "rules-based" order faces its greatest crisis since the end of the Cold War. Liberalism is in retreat around the world. Authoritarian regimes have become more numerous and increasingly repressive. International norms are unravelling. Yet there is little sign of a new, post-liberal order. Talk of a global power shift to the East is commonplace, but despite the growing influence of China, a "multipolar" world remains an abstraction. Instead, there is a growing void in global governance - a new world disorder.

In a broad and erudite narrative, Bobo Lo argues that there is no future in a return to dominant US leadership, great power competition or the post-Cold War chimera of a geopolitics-free world. The way forward lies in a more inclusive and flexible order, driven by a common purpose in meeting universal challenges, such as climate change, pandemic disease and global poverty.

Review Quotes

Bobo Lo has written an ambitious and compelling book. It is a substantive and sophisticated analysis of the current geopolitical crises, and an elegant extended essay on the prospects for a new twenty-first-century global order. This is essential reading for policymakers focused on revitalizing internationalism and those considering new mechanisms for collective problem solving.--Fiona Hill, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution

Bobo Lo offers a thoughtful critique of the rules-based international order that has collapsed. He provides a provocative prescription for revitalizing global governance and creating an international society that reflects the realities and needs of the world in the twenty-first century.--Angela Stent, author of Putin's World: Russia Against the West and with the Rest

The Disorderly Society is a compelling and timely account of the failures of statecraft and imagination that have led to the unravelling of international order. Bobo Lo distils a lifetime of studying Great Power rivalry, drawing on his deep expertise in Russia and China, to address uncomfortable truths about the West's own role in the current state of affairs and to offer thought-provoking recommendations for how to avoid catastrophe.--Sir Laurie Bristow, President of Hughes Hall, Cambridge and former UK Ambassador to Russia, 2016-20

The Disorderly Society is a sharp, sober analysis of the passing of the old international order. But its real importance is in the hope that it provides for the revitalization of global governance. It is elegantly written, grounded in realism, and leavened with original ideas. Bobo Lo has provided a timely rejoinder to those who fear that geopolitical competition and disorder have once again become the defining features of world affairs.--Anthony Bubalo, Chief Executive Officer, Asia Society Australia

About the Author

Bobo Lo is an independent international relations analyst. He is a non-resident fellow with the Lowry Institute, Sydney, and an associate research fellow at the French Institute of International Relations. He was previously Director of the China and Russia programmes at the Centre for European Reform in London, and Head of the Russia and Eurasia programme at Chatham House. His books include A Wary Embrace: What the China-Russia Relationship Means for the World (2017) and Russia and the New World Disorder (2015).