Since the dawn of the twenty-first century, the West has been in crisis. Social unrest, political polarisation, and the rise of other great powers threaten to unravel today's world order. Many fear this would lead to global chaos. But the West has never had a monopoly on order. Surveying five thousand years of global history, political scientist Amitav Acharya reveals that world order - the political architecture enabling cooperation and peace among nations - existed long before the rise of the West. Moving from ancient Sumer, India, Greece and Mesoamerica, through medieval caliphates and Eurasian empires into the present, Acharya shows that humanitarian values, economic interdependence and rules of inter-state conduct emerged across the globe over millennia. The end of Western dominance offers us the opportunity to build a better world. Where non-Western nations find more voice, power and prosperity. Instead of fearing the future, the West should learn from history and cooperate with the Rest