Book Review on The Making of Global International Relations: Origins and Evolution of IR at its Centenary

Abstract

The quest for Global IR brings important transformations to the International Relations (IR) discipline. It calls for the inclusion of non-Western approaches into the discipline. Acharya and Buzan are pioneers of this transformation. They began their research with non-Western IR and turned it into Global IR, which aims to prevent the parochialism of both Western and non-Western IR, but rather mutual construction. Their book The Making of Global International Relations: Origins and Evolution of IR at its Centenary is a crucial step in achieving this aim. It successfully demonstrates the intertwined relations between international political developments and IR through its world history approach. However, the book has its constraints as well. It prioritizes the core/the West in its structural formation and focuses exclusively on the English language rather than incorporating local scholars. More importantly, the book overlooks the non-Western contributions that fail to find a place in core Western IR. It requires such approaches to de-provincialize themselves and extend beyond their regions to be recognized as valuable theories. This shifts the gatekeeper role from the Western IR to Global IR, which can decide whether an approach is valuable based on its representation in Western IR and its ability to have global applicability. This paper provides a critical review of the book while highlighting its significant contributions to Global IR.