What might a world ‘beyond war’ realistically look like? How can nations with opposing values and interests – how can democracies and autocracies – integrate into an international order without ruthlessly adhering to the law of ‘might is right’? In this book, renowned peace and conflict researcher Nicole Deitelhoff looks at the period from the birth of the international order out of the ashes of two world wars, to the end of the bipolar world and the multiple crises of the present day. Her controversial argument is as follows: in the globalised world of the 21st century, an international conflagration can only be prevented if, in future, potential adversaries cautiously dismantle and reconfigure their economic, cultural and political interdependencies. At its outermost edges, it is ultimately only territorial integrity, international sovereignty and the exclusion of crimes against humanity which define Deitelhoff’s model order.

• The war in Ukraine is a break with the post-war world order

• How will international relationships be defined in the future?

• Explores new forms of peaceful coexistence

• The latest insights from peace and conflict research