If crowds of shoppers, ubiquitous renditions of "Jingle Bells" and the stream of sentimental movies on TV are already making you crave some more solitary and intellectual pursuits, you may want to take a look at two recent general history books. Both offer a global perspective on institutional and political history, with perhaps less than totally optimistic conclusions.
Political Order and Political Decay is the much-anticipated second volume of Francis Fukuyama's study of political institutions. Its scope is broad, spanning the ancient Chinese state through very recent North American and European history. The work focuses on what he calls "get[ing] to Denmark" - that is, reaching a political order that is prosperous, liberal and democratic. He sees this being achieved by the interaction of accountability, an effective state and the rule of law. Fukuyama surveys a number of different societies where one or more of these conditions existed - a strong state in the case of ancient China, for example, or the rule of law in India and the Muslim world, but he only sees the development of the three in balance in Europe and European based states like North America's.
These concepts are Eurocentric but Fukuyama is not positing a "best of all possible worlds." Political decay is possible and he recognizes specific incidents; for instance, he sees the rise of special interest groups skewing accountability in the United States and also sees the increasing ineffectiveness of the national state bequeathed by the Progressives and the New Deal.
Like Fukuyama, Henry Kissinger in his 2014 book World Order celebrates a European tradition while not insisting on its inevitability or success. Whatever one thinks of Kissinger, there is no doubt about his erudition or the constancy of his convictions. This book restates his idea of the need for a balance of power, and perhaps his ideas are more relevant to the post- Communist world than they were to the era of Vietnam.
Kissinger surveys world history back to the era of ancient China and finds no real balance of power. He says that in societies such as ancient China or the Muslim world, one was either within the community or one was a barbarian - only fit for conquest. He sees traces of the same solipsism in the modern U.S. worldview, which seems sometimes to suggest that everything will be fine as soon as the global community accepts American ideals.
Kissinger states that true balance of power arose out of the miseries of the 30 Years War, largely fought on religious grounds. The consensus reached at the Treaty of Westphalia was that each ruler would set the religion of his state, thereby setting the nation-state as the chief agent of political organization. The task then became how to maintain this balance of equality. Kissinger quotes the famous realpolitik dictum of 19th century British statesman Lord Palmerston: "We have no perpetual allies, and no eternal enemies."
Kissinger sees two flaws in American foreign policy that are dangerous, especially with the rise of China. The first is based on geographical isolation: the perception that foreign policy "is an optional activity." The second flaw is what might be called American exceptionalism: the perception that American ideals are absolute and universal. He worries these will seriously impede America's ability to effectively navigate in "a world of increasingly contradictory realities."
These are strong and controversial takes on world history. Whether you agree with these authors, they both provide ample ideas to consider. You can find these and many other weighty and substantial books at your local library.
A Good Read is a column by Tri-City librarians that is published on Wednesdays. Martin Boughner works at Port Moody Public Library.
