Book cover

Table of contents

Book launching

About this book

The present volume “Force or Dialogue: Conflicting Paradigms of World Order” contains around two-dozen of Hans Köchler’s most recent articles and analyses. With this collection, Köchler continues his reflections on the nature and requirements of a just world order (World Order: Vision and Reality, 2009).  Divided into three parts – “Politics and Law,” “Culture and Identity,” and "Society and Economy,” the book deals with the basic issues of national sovereignty, balance of power, international legitimacy and democratic reform of the international system. Analyzing the meaning and foundations of dialogue, the book further explores the role of culture, education and the new social media in the emerging multipolar order. The essays are arranged by theme, ranging from general reflections on the structure of the international system to a critique of power politics and applied questions of cultural identity and social justice. In the Foreword, Fred Dallmayr writes:  “The title of the present volume appropriately portrays the contemporary global situation as in the grip of the competing paradigms of ‘force or dialogue,’ that is, of unilateral domination or multilateral cooperation. … The obstacles placed in the way of cooperation and dialogue by hegemonic domination are formidable and need to be realistically acknowledged. … A critical realism is needed which does not abandon the striving for just cooperation and peace.” The essays in this book try to provide the elements of such an alternative vision of world order.

Book review: Mainstream, New Delhi