Rise of the Civilizational State

In recent years culture has become the primary currency of politics - from the identity politics that characterized the 2016 American election to the pushback against Western universalism in much of the non-Western world.

Much less noticed is the rise of a new political entity, the civilizational state. In this pioneering book, the renowned political philosopher Christopher Coker looks in depth at two countries that now claim this title: Xi Jinping's China and Vladimir Putin's Russia. He also discusses the Islamic caliphate, a virtual and aspirational civilizational state that is unlikely to fade despite the recent setbacks suffered by ISIS. The civilizational state, he contends, is an idea whose time has come. For, while civilizations themselves may not clash, civilizational states appear to be set on challenging the rules of the international order that the West takes for granted. China seems anxious to revise them, Russia to break them, while Islamists would like to throw away the rule book altogether. Coker argues that, when seen in the round, these challenges could be enough to give birth to a new post-liberal international order.

In ultimii ani cultura a devenit moneda principala a politicii - de la politica identitara care a caracterizat alegerile americane din 2016 pana la impingerea impotriva universalismului occidental in mare parte din lumea non-occidentala. Cu atat mai putin observata este cresterea unei noi entitati politice, stat civilizational. In aceasta carte de pionierat, renumitul filozof politic Christopher Coker se uita in profunzime la doua tari care pretind acum acest titlu: China lui Xi Jinping si Rusia lui Vladimir Putin.