SHASHI THAROOR ***************************** image.png The New World Disorder And the Indian Imperative by Shashi Tharoor and Samir Saran; Published by Aleph ; Pages: 292; Price Rs 799/- ******************************** The book under review by Shashi Tharoor and Samir Saran is absolutely timely and acts as a guide to Indian leaders in choosing the policies they ought to embrace as we enter the third decade of the 21st century. The two authors sponsor a vigorous foreign policy that will enshrine and uphold a world-wide union of democratic processes. All of us are aware that we are plagued by tough problems like global warming, terrorism, communal and ethnic tensions. What ought to be India’s role in this dreadful drama? Three outstanding issues face us and these are the upsurge of China, the stepping behind by the Western world under American leadership(or lack of it) and the burgeoning hold of populism and strong leaders. An interesting prologue of events given by the authors are Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Climate Change agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership; China’s Belt and Road Initiative; the election across Europe of far-right Euro-sceptics and the vote for Brexit . These events have ineluctably resulted in the New World Disorder—which must be squarely faced by India and responded to meaningfully and forcefully. As a former United Nations official for decades, who once even ran the election to lead the organisation, Tharoor, a Member of Parliament, with his U N experience is richly endowed to analyse the deficiencies of the UN and the causes. The co-author Saran,is an authority on climate change, global governance and digital technology. He directs a well known think-tank and organises the government’s flagship conference Raisina Dialogue each year. He is ,thus,competent to analyse India’s claims and aspirations to contribute to the next version of the “New World Order” when it is born out of the disorder enveloping us today. New centres of power, new alliances and new rivalries are emerging, putting pressure on institutions governing global trade and security. As power is shifting and dispersing, domains for geopolitical rivalry or participation get extended. The central aim of the book is to describe and understand this phenomenon of disorder and provide a solution to it. An important chapter in the book is concerned with what a “New World Order” would constitute, and how our country must assume the mantle of leadership. “India may well be the only country with the credentials and capability to script an equitable ethic for a new international order,” write the authors, which may be an overblown hope-- taking into account the current situation, rising populism and protectionism, a right-wing government itself accused of authoritarianism, and the threat of religious majoritarianism. The authors hope that India as a “relatively wealthy, democratic, multicultural state with an instinct that privileges multilateralism and rules-based order” is welcome in the New World Order. The New World Order that Tharoor and Saran refer to has several dimensions. H.G. Wells, in his book The New World Order, spoke of a global idea to reconstruct human society through a common belief in the “Rights of Man”. Curiously several persons believed that a “New World Order” was the creation of a secret group with the avowed aim of forming “authoritarian world government” . Approaching the global disorder from an institutional perspective, the authors concentrate on global governance. Institutions based on American liberal values, including the United Nations , World Trade Organization , World Bank and International Monetary Fund , have been the foundation of international order, and the systems of alliances and multilateral institutions that have upheld this order have been the safeguard of international stability. The authors highlight four essential aspects of global governance buttressed by events or case studies: history ; forces of convergence and disruptions ; the emergence of institutions and processes ; and universal norms . They enumerate the five crises that characterise global governance today: the crisis of legitimacy, representation, the collective, identity and sovereignty, supported by case studies. The authors strongly espouse need for ‘Re-forming’, rather than reforming of this governance structure, so that it accommodates the diverse cross-section of interests. The global governance of peace and security faces mounting challenges. The UN as the leading guarantor of peace and security failed to tackle issues and is criticised for its inaction, for example, during the South China Sea dispute, violence in Iran, Libya and Syria , the humanitarian crisis in South Sudan, Rohingya crisis in Myanmar, the civil war in Yemen and so forth. The UN’s response to humanitarian crises has been selective, and this issue has remained contentious in international politics. Selective intervention by the UN has damaged the legitimacy of the international order. Interventionist policies of the UN depend on factors such as the level of human suffering, the level of spillover effects of the crisis; the military strength of the target state and the extent to which the UN has previously engaged in a crisis. The underlying fact remains, “the governance structures of today still reflect the realities of 1945 and not 2020” . Questioning the legitimacy (or inadequacy) of the UN, the authors believe that the UN is neither indispensable nor irrelevant. It is ‘intransigent’ , stuck in a moment in history. The Global North refuses to take into account its historic role in afflicting climate change and alleges the Third World countries are responsible for degrading the environment, due to poverty and increased population and the costs and liability of mitigation and adaptation have to be borne collectively . The Global South asserts that the rich nations must bear the basic burden of financial mitigation, consume less of the world’s resources and reduce their contribution to global warming. To ensure climate change and development, the book distinctly mentions three elements: technology, finance and knowledge . Climate change negotiations and sustainable development discourse carried over various conventions have been unsuccessful in fully addressing climate governance. The authors have thoroughly covered the governance of cyberspace. They discuss the birth of the internet, inextricably linked to America’s unipolar prominence, framed in democratic and market-centric terms, in line with the American vision of international liberal order. Emerging technologies are becoming the centre of a global contest for leadership and dominance. Following the Snowden episode, China rallied against America’s perceived domination of the internet by demanding the return of the state and the expansion of ‘cyberspace sovereignty’. Undeniably, China has a ‘de facto control over the internet’ , with its two sole objectives being information censorship and eliminating the use of foreign technology companies to ramp up its own technology companies. The concluding chapter recapitulates the liberal international order and the norms that set up the international institutions, including the UN and its agencies . India has taken several initiatives, globally and regionally, to hedge the adverse consequences of the changes underway. India has made efforts for creating an enabling environment for digital innovation, peacekeeping, or forging cooperation and mutual support in multilateral fora. Five major attributes are given on an ‘Indian Imperative’. India seems to take on this leadership role, first, given its democratic credentials which are non-western in nature and based on a free market ; the second component is India’s strategic geographical expanse ; the third feature is India’s unique cultural ethos followed by India’s role in global governance and development; and lastly, India’s affirmative position to greater international equity . Amid unalloyed geopolitical and technological turmoil, this work is a crucial combination of the most important transformation of our time, as the centre of gravity shifts towards emerging multipolar world order, especially in Asia. The option left for India in an unpredictable world is to retain a “truly global vision” and robustly offer its competence in the area of technology, cyberspace and outer space as a tangible evidence of its potential as a leader. P.P.Ramachandran. 20/12/2020.