World Order 2.0: Global Civilization Beyond Western Dominance - In Review
A reflection by Maggie O’Daniel
On Thursday, February 26, 2026 the Filson Historical Society in Louisville, Kentucky was alive with the sound of chatter as people filed in to take a seat for WAC Speaker Series’ World Order 2.0 Global Civilization Beyond Western Dominance featuring Dr. Amitav Acharya. Dr. Amitav Acharya is a professor of international relations at American University, celebrated author, and UNESCO Chair of Transnational Challenges and Governance. I was looking forward to this program because of the ever shifting political situation currently seen in the US—not to mention the receptions at these events always have delicious appetizers and a cash bar to enjoy. As I grazed on my snacks and sipped a glass of wine, I made my way to a seat in the back of the room. Most seats were full of WAC members I recognized from previous events with a smattering of new faces in the crowd as well. Things began to settle down from the jovial conversations of the reception to a more serious atmosphere as Wendy Sirchioo, Board Chair of World Affairs Council of Kentucky and Southern Indiana, made her way to the front of the room to introduce the speaker for the evening.
Dr. Acharya began by letting us know what he would be speaking on was a much truncated version of the contents of his book, The Once and Future World Order: Why Global Civilization Will Survive the Decline of the West. He stated that the world we all live in, the one dominated by America and America alone, was an outlier in human history, not the norm. That throughout history until a few hundred years ago when things began to shift, the world had multiple spheres of influence. Nations and Empires rise and fall in power, changing the centers of dominance as resources fluctuate. Acharya also emphasized that much of what is thought of as Western ideas, like Locke’s social contract theory or electoral governance, were not founded in the West. Many of the ideals of how society operates today were first seen—if not initially written down—in countries that are now considered as “the global south” or “developing counties”. Dr. Acharya further asserted that even the countries we now regard as being the birthplace of Western thought, such as Ancient Greece and Rome, would not have considered themselves “Western” and would perhaps take offense to the notion due to their contemporary belief of Western Europe being uncivilized. He then moved on to the co-evolution of enlightened ideas, an example he gave was Freedom of the Seas, the idea that the oceans and seas of the world would not be owned by any one country, but open to all to use and traverse. At the same time this concept was being written about in Europe it was also being discussed in South Asia. He gave many examples of non-Western countries including India, China, Egypt, the Inca, and Native North American groups, spearheading ideas that now, much less at the time, are considered forward thinking—topics such as human rights, treaties amongst nations, and the bases of free trade to list a few.
Dr. Acharya made it clear at the beginning of his speech that he would be speaking primarily about historical happenings, with only a brief touch on the current state of affairs. I liked his approach, though a few others I spoke about the event with afterward wished he had connected the historical perspective to the present predicament facing the US and the world more fully. While I see their perspective, I also think it is our job as the audience to make the connections ourselves once given the information to do so.
After Dr. Acharya had concluded his presentation, the audience was able to ask questions. There was one question in particular that stuck out to me. To summarize, the audience member asked how the increase in globalization, specifically the ability to wage catastrophic war anywhere in the world at the push of a button, changed the current fall from dominance the US is facing to that of the Roman Empire, for example. Dr. Acharya’s answer was diplomatic, saying any use of nuclear warfare is more or less the end of the world and that this in of itself was preventative. Other nations having nuclear capabilities helped keep those more inclined to use them in check as well as world leaders not wanting for any situation to ever come to that point, using good sense and diplomacy to prevent a nuclear war. The reason I found this question interesting was because of the jump from the fall of Western dominance to nuclear warfare. We have seen the fall of a world power who had nuclear weapons, and it did not end in a nuclear apocolypse—The Soviet Union. The USSR held immense power. It controlled almost all of Eastern Europe and parts of Asia, with its sphere of influence reaching even farther. Yes, America was not the country that fell, but if one failing super power resisted the urge to reassert itself and go out with a bang—pun intended—we can reasonably hope that the same can happen again. That is the historical perspective Dr. Acharya is presenting us with. History has a tendency of repeating itself, and while no one can predict the future, we can only hope that in this case it does.
I really enjoyed WAC’s Speaker Series World 2.0: Global Civilization Beyond Western Dominance by Dr. Amitav Acharya. The historical understanding that our current world order is the exception not the rule, that there were and are forward thinking individuals fighting for peoples rights all over the globe, and that there is a life worth living beyond our countries' fall from absolute power is, as one audience member said, very reassuring. A feeling you don’t often experience in our current media landscape. Dr. Archarya wanted to show that the decline of American dominance and the West more broadly, is not the end of the world. That we would not fall into the Hobbesian nightmare of society where life is “nasty, brutish, and short.” Western dominance has told us over and over again that without its strong hand leading us we would be lost, but that is simply not the case. There are intelligent free thinkers throughout history and throughout the world that will continue to fight for what is right. From Asia to South America and everywhere in between, people have always been people, there are those who are selfish and those who want to help others. That will never change, no matter what country is calling the shots in the centuries to come.
About the Writer
Maggie O’Daniel is our Reaserch Fellow. She is a Cultural Anthropology Master’s student at UofL. Maggie has worked with nonprofits for 5 years, and is exploring how WAC connects our region to the world.
