What if the sun truly is setting on the Western world’s outsized influence over the rest of the planet?
In Westlessness, Dr Samir Puri vividly demonstrates how in demographic, economic, military and cultural terms, we are hurtling into a far more diverse global future. Many of our certainties about the present, built on centuries of massive Western global impact, are increasingly fragile. Untold wealth is moving from the West to the East, as nations like India and Indonesia are set to reach new heights of growth and confidence. And China continues its ascent to the peak of the economic mountain – but are cracks appearing? And will the Western world, under the aegis of US global military, economic, technological and cultural power, give up its privileged position willingly?
Nothing is linear and nothing is predictable. Are we prepared, personally and professionally, for a far more diverse global future?
Prepared or unprepared, Westlessness is essential reading for us all.
Samir Puri is an author, strategy advisor and former UK civil servant. He previously worked for RAND (2006-09) and the Foreign Office (2009-15). After government service he became a War Studies lecturer at King’s College London (2015-18), during which time he also advised the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Ministry of Defence’s think-tank. His most recent job was at IISS-Asia in Singapore (2020-22). In 2023 he became an Associate Fellow at Chatham House’s ‘UK in the World’ programme.
He is the author of The Great Imperial Hangover: How Empires Have Shaped the World and Russia’s Road to War with Ukraine: Invasion Amidst the Ashes of Empires.
