ISBN: 978-1-00-918681-0
Torbjørn L Knutsen
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Some rising powers upset the world order, others
do not. Under which conditions do rising powers challenge international norms
and rules? And why would they want to alter the very order which enabled their
rise? These are timely questions in an age when China is catching up with the
USA and the liberal world order is under stress. Ascending Order
addresses these questions through ‘Institutional Status Theory’ (IST), which
seeks to explain the behavior of rising powers seeking recognition. If extant great
powers meet their demand for recognition, rising powers will obey established
rules. If they do not, rising powers will challenge the established order. Three
chapters apply IST to three cases of rising powers: late 19th-century
USA, Japan during the interwar era, and India during the Cold War. A final chapter
discusses China’s contemporary struggle for recognition. Ascending Order
is meticulously researched. IST offers a credible alternative to established IR
approaches by arguing that sovereign states constitute a hierarchical society (not
an anarchical system). It highlights the importance of social status (rather
than just material capabilities and power). It draws on social theories – notably
social psychology, sociology, and economics (but eschews the simple
rational-actor models of neorealism). Curiously, the book also avoids references
to the long tradition of continental thinkers (from Plato to Rousseau, Hegel
and Nietzsche) who paved the way for the core concept of the book: the struggle
for recognition. If Mukherjee is correct, seeing the rise of China merely as a competitor
and a challenge to the established, US-dominated international order is both
misconceived and dangerous.