Civilizations and World Order: Geopolitics and Cultural Differenceexamines the role of civilizations in the context of the existing and possible world order(s) from a cross-cultural and inter-disciplinary perspective. Contributions seek to clarify the meaning of such complex and contested notions as civilization, order, and world order; they do so by taking into account political, economic, cultural, and philosophical dimensions of social life. The book deals with its main theme from three angles or vectors: first, the geopolitical or power-political context of civilizations; secondly, the different roles of civilizations or cultures against the backdrop of post-coloniality and Orientalism; and thirdly, the importance of ideological and regional differences as factors supporting or obstructing world order(s). All in all, the different contributions demonstrate the impact of competing civilizational trajectories on the functioning or malfunctioning of contemporary world order.

This book examines the role of civilizations in the context of the existing and possible world orders from a cross-cultural and inter-disciplinary perspective. It seeks to clarify the meaning of such complex and contested notions as "civilization," "order," and "world order" by taking into account political, economic, cultural, and philosophical dimensions of social life.

Foreword: Civilizational Revival in the Global Age
Ahmet Davutolu
Introduction
Fred Dallmayr, M. Akif Kayapnar and smail Yaylac

Part I: Geopolitics and World Order
1. Geopolitical Turmoil and Civilizational Pluralism
Richard Falk
2. Civilization as Instrument of World Order? The Role of the Civilizational Paradigm in the Absence of a Balance of Power
Hans Köchler
3. Power in the Analysis of World Orders
Raymond Duvall and Çidem Çdam
4. International Society, Cultural Diversity, and the Clash (or Dialogue) of Civilizations
Chris Brown

Part II: Eurocentrism and Cultural Difference
5.The Formative Parameters of Civilizations: A Theoretical and Historical Framework
Ahmet Davutolu
6.Western Democrats, Oriental Despots?
S. Sayyid
7.The Ottoman Empire and the Global Muslim Identity in the Formation of Eurocentric World Order, 1815-1919
Cemil Aydn
8.Beyond the Enlightenment Mentality: An Anthropocosmic Perspective
Tu Weiming

Part III: Liberalism, Global and Regional Orders
9.Globalization, Civilizations, and World Order
Robert Gilpin
10.Liberalism of Restraint and Liberalism of Imposition: Liberal Values and World Order in the New Millennium
Georg Sørensen
11.The Rise of a Neo-medieval Order in Europe
Jan Zielonka
12.Illusions, Dreams and Nightmares: Japan, the United States, and the East Asian Renaissance in the First Decade of the New Century
John Welfield