DÉCRIPT in dialogue | The Once and Future World Order
The FMSH and the DÉCRIPT programme, led by the INALCO on behalf of a consortium of fifteen institutions, are launching a new biannual event dedicated to the leading voices of international research.
‘DÉCRIPT in dialogue’ extends the spirit of the ‘Livres en dialogue’ cycle, dedicated to works published and distributed by the FMSH, by opening it up to international debates. Each session, moderated by a journalist, will feature a researcher from the global academic scene and one of their major works, questioning the frames of reference that shape our reading of the world.
The first meeting will take place on 22 January 2026, and will welcome political scientist Amitav Acharya, who will present his book The Once and Future World Order. Why Global Civilisation Will Survive the Decline of the West. The discussion will be moderated by Catherine Porter, international correspondent for The New York Times.
A strong opening for a series dedicated to the circulation of ideas.
The meeting will be held in English.
Since the dawn of the 21st century, the West has been in crisis. Social tensions, political polarisation and the rise of other major powers – particularly China – threaten to undo the current Western-dominated world order. Many fear that this will lead to global chaos. But this is a Western illusion.
Looking back over five thousand years of world history, political scientist Amitav Acharya reveals that forms of international order existed long before the rise of the West. From ancient Sumer to the present day, via India, Greece, Mesoamerica, the medieval caliphates and the Eurasian empires, Professor Acharya shows that humanitarian values, economic interdependence and rules of conduct between states have emerged in all corners of the world over the millennia.
History suggests that order will endure, even if the West withdraws. Instead of fearing the future, the West should learn from the past and cooperate with the rest of the world to build a more equitable order.
Amitav Acharya is the UNESCO Chair in Transnational Challenges and Governance and Distinguished Professor at the School of International Service at American University in Washington, D.C. An award-winning author, he has published, among other works, The Making of Global International Relations, with Barry Buzan (Cambridge University Press, 2019) and The End of American World Order (Polity Press, 2014). Born in India, he has lived and worked in Singapore, Canada, the United Kingdom, China, and the United States.
Catherine Porter is an international correspondent for The New York Times, based in Paris. Since 2022, she has been covering news, politics and social movements in France. Previously, she headed The New York Times' Canadian bureau in Toronto. A foreign correspondent for fourteen years, Catherine Porter is a specialist on Haiti, a country she has been investigating since the devastating earthquake of 2010. Her book about this experience, called A Girl Named Lovely, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2019. In 2022, she was part of the team that won the George Polk Award for its investigation into the assassination of former Haitian President Jovenel Moïse. She also led the New York Times' five-part investigation into Haiti's independence debt, which received the prestigious Hillman Prize in 2023.
From China's ‘initiative for a global civilisation’ to Russia's ‘civilisation of civilisations’, via the US State Department's call to ‘seek civilisational allies in Europe’, references to the concept of civilisation structure much political discourse and permeate the collective imagination. What representations of the world underlie the civilisational narratives conveyed by a growing number of international actors? Who articulates them, and what mechanisms govern their production, dissemination or contestation? How do they intertwine with conflictual dynamics and reconfigure the analysis of global issues, models of governance and, more broadly, the notion of universal norms?
The DÉCRIPT programme (Dispositif d’Étude des Crises et des Récits civilisationnels par la Pluridisciplinarité et les Terrains), led by the INALCO with a consortium of fifteen partners and supported by France 2030, aims to shed light on these issues by combining area studies and global studies. Drawing on the humanities, social sciences and data analysis, DÉCRIPT produces original, empirically grounded research. It aims to inform public policy and widely disseminate its findings in order to contribute to a critical understanding of the interactions between civilisational narratives and contemporary crises.
This work received government funding managed by the French National Research Agency under France 2030, reference number ANR-24-RSHS-0002.
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