This book challenges the Eurocentric foundations of modern International Relations scholarship. Its primary empirical focus is the early modern era, when European primacy had yet to develop in many parts of the globe. It presents a series of regional case studies from experts on East Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, and Russia to explore patterns of cross-cultural exchange and civilizational encounters.

The authors analyze a series of regional international orders which were primarily defined by local interests, agendas and institutions, with European interlopers often playing a secondary role. These perspectives emphasise the central role of non-European agency in shaping global history, and stand in stark contrast to conventional narratives revolving around the ‘Rise of the West’, which tend to be based upon a stylized contrast between a dynamic West and a passive and static East.

Focusing on a crucial period of global history that has been neglected in the field of International Relations, the book reveals profound differences between the early modern era and the more familiar colonial conquests of the second half of the nineteenth century. It will be interest to students and scholars of international relations, international relations theory, international history, early modern history and sociology.