【Report】Summary of the lecture by Professor Acharya 12 December 2025

Title: The Once and Future World Order: Why Global Civilization Will Survive the Decline of the West

On December 12, 2025, Professor Amitav Acharya of American University delivered a presentation about his recently published book, “Once and Future World Order,” at Ritsumeikan University.

Professor Acharya opened the session by outlining the scope of his book, noting that his research spans a 5,000-year history, from the Sumerian and Egyptian civilizations to contemporary times. He emphasized that his book focuses on a world order rather than a global order, with particular attention to regional orders. Unlike many contemporary publications, Professor Acharya’s work offers an extensive geographical scope, covering not only Europe but also Asia, Africa, and South America. Professor Acharya addressed the issues with the current discourse on world order, which begins in Europe and ends with the United States, while neglecting non-Western perspectives.He stressed the need to recognize the contributions of all civilizations, which inspired him to write his own work.

He then explained how past and present civilizations worked together to create the world order and its institutions long before the rise of the West. Providing historical examples, he demonstrated that numerous concepts—such as peace diplomacy, treaties, alliances, the freedom of the seas, humanitarian values, human rights, economic interdependence, and the rules of interstate conduct—existed in various civilizations prior to the rise of the West.

In the last part of his speech, Professor Amitav Acharya explained the next world order and its characteristics. He covered his conception of a multiplex world order that is mainly pluralistic and based on regional orders. Professor Acharya stressed that this multiplex world order will provide non-Western nations with greater opportunity for representation and increase inclusivity.

The audience posed many interesting questions during the Q&A session regarding the current world order, the history of peacemaking, the origins of war and colonialism, and the influence of the Global South on the future of world order.