Historians teach that the nation state was born in Europe and the Americas and matured over centuries through print, industry and the spread of nationalism nationalism — and that after 1945 an American-led global order contained it.
Out of Chaos argues that both stories are wrong. In 1945 most commentators thought the post would be governed by reformed empires or federations. Out of Chaos shows how the nation state – the basic unit of world society – was a postwar improvisation built in a hurry. It was assembled, from conversation and conflict on every continent at once, to provide order amidst famine, partition and civil war. It prevailed because it was the only political form which communists and capitalists, colonisers and colonised could agree on. It has survived because it can contain multiple competing visions of the future at once.
In this talk, Jon Wilson will offer a new account of the emergence of the present-day world order, and explain its significance for the way we see political order today. The talk will be followed by comments from Tan Tai Yong, Srinath Raghavan and Kei Koga and a discussion moderated by Swapna Kona Nayudu.
