Guest Speaker: Manjeet S. Pardesi (Associate Professor of International Relations; Asia Research Fellow, Centre for Strategic Studies, Victoria University of Wellington)

Lecture Abstract:

With the return of Donald Trump to the White House, the fate of the U.S.-led Liberal International Order (LIO), already in doubt, has darkened considerably more. But what comes after it? In contrast to traditional accounts that foresee disorder, or an epic Thucydidean contest between the U.S. and China, or even Chinese hegemony, we argue that the classical eastern Indian Ocean (~1 st —15 th  centuries CE) corresponding with modern Southeast Asia—before the arrival of European imperial powers—provides a powerful model for the emerging international order after American hegemony. Then, an expansive, vibrant, and rules-based order of trade and cultural flows was organized not by the great powers, whether China or India or others, but by the small and dynamic polities of Southeast Asia. The classical Indian Ocean challenges the hegemonic and great power ordering paradigm and shows that dense commercial and cultural interactions can hold international systems together. (Based on the author’s book with Amitav Acharya mentioned below).

Short Bio:

Manjeet S. Pardesi is Associate Professor of International Relations in the Political Science and International Relations Programme, and Asia Research Fellow at the Centre for Strategic Studies at Victoria University of Wellington. His research interests include World Orders and World/Global History, Great Power Politics, Asian security, and the Sino-Indian rivalry. His most recent book, Divergent Worlds: What the Ancient Mediterranean and Indian Ocean Can Tell Us About the Future of International Order (co-authored with Amitav Acharya) was published by Yale University Press in 2025.