On July 9, Emma Ashford’s book review of Kyle Lascurettes’ new book on the history of World Order, entitled “Orders of Exclusion: Great Powers and the Strategic Sources of Foundational Rules in International Relations”, was published in an ISSF/HDiplo roundtable.
“The book offers a number of important lessons for today’s policymakers. Lascurettes is clearly correct to note one big implication of his argument: by historical standards, President Donald Trump isn’t really an aberration. Trump’s disdain for traditional American-led institutions might be rhetorically unusual, but great powers have always fiddled with existing rules and institutions in ways that benefit themselves and undermine competitors. Unfortunately, Orders of Exclusion is largely silent on the question of power transition in the absence of major power war or great power death. Indeed, the brief final chapter on the future of order is disappointing only insofar as it barely scratches the surface of contemporary debates.”
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