''In this book Maximilian Terhalle lays out a powerful argument that recent academic and policy concerns with global governance need to give way to a renewed focus on the power-political order amongst the major powers, above all the United States and China. The book draws on both English School scholarship and on classical realism. Its picture of the current order transition is stark and strident: the revisionist ambitions of both the US and China underpin the multiple deadlocks that plague contemporary global governance. Any restored order will have to depend on the possibilities of a new political bargain based both on changes in the distribution of material power and on the normative beliefs and self-conceptions of the major players. This is an important and timely contribution with which those interested in global order and global governance and the relationship between them will want to engage.'' Professor Andrew Hurrell, Oxford University
''Want to understand why a US-China 'G-2' will not materialize and serve as the basis of a reconstructed global order? In this theoretically and conceptually sophisticated study, Maximilian Terhalle deconstructs the philosophical, structural, and social bases that comprise Sino-American differences over global preferences and governance. Both nations' exceptionalist identities and emerging great power rivalry make it difficult for them to cooperate, which helps to explain why the future world order will become ever more disorganized and dangerous. A provocative book that should be read by scholars of international relations.'' Professor David Shambaugh, George Washington University and The Brookings Institution
'''Cosmopolitans beware' is the central message of this admirable book. Theoretical ambition and empirical illustrations are tightly linked in an analysis that tracks the overlays of existing regimes and great power politics pitting the US and China against each other. This book charts, once again, the twilight flight of Minerva's owl through a world guided neither by Liberalism's reassuring radiance nor Realism's despairing darkness.'' - Professor Peter J. Katzenstein, Cornell University
'This is one of those rare books that may become an instant classic. Terhalle convincingly offers a framework that helps us understand the ongoing transition of global order by looking closely at the re-negotiations of the rules of the game underlying 21st Century world politics. He presents a middle-model that captures the pluralist dynamics of today's global politics, successfully navigating between the Scylla of US-centric and the Charybdis of Euro-centric tunnel visions of global order. In that the book displays a thorough understanding of the reciprocal nature of the US-China relationship in shaping order transition.' - Dr Jochen Prantl, Australian National University
This ambitious book makes an important contribution to our understanding of how international order is legitimated, contested, and transformed. Dr Terhalle's analysis, grounded in extensive empirical research, of how the United States and China are engaged in a process he calls reciprocal socialization should be of deep interest to scholars and policy-makers alike. This book productively integrates the insights of both material power-based and ideas-based theories of power politics and global governance to develop a comprehensive account of how the relationship between China and the United States is in the process of reshaping multiple dimensions of our international order. - Dr Mlada Bukovansky, Smith College
Maximilian Terhalle painstakingly examines how world politics has begun to change in the last few years in ways we all still struggle to understand fully. He arrives at conclusions which challenge many conventional wisdoms and preconceived notions about international order and global governance. Broadly based, thoroughly researched and tightly argued, his study is essential reading for anyone interested in the future of international relations, both as an academic field of inquiry and the reality with which decision-makers have to deal. Professor Hanns W. Maull, Trier University
'The Transition of Global Order asks what may be the single most important question in international relations today: how the rise of China and other non-western powers will affect the character of the liberal international order. Professor Terhalle examines the interplay of common culture (or its lack), rules, coercion, and governance effectiveness in shaping the outcome.'' Professor Jack Snyder, Columbia University
Maximilian Terhalle is a senior research fellow at the University of Potsdam, where he holds a scholarship from the Fritz Thyssen Foundation. Previously, he conducted research and taught at Columbia, Oxford, Yale, and Cornell Universities, and his research interests include US-China relations and theories of global order. Maximilian has published in Security Studies, International Studies Review, Review of International Studies, International Studies Perspectives and Zeitschrift fur Internationale Beziehungen.