Westlessness: The Great Global Rebalancing

My new book arrives on July 4, 2024. How do you tackle such an immense topic — and what can sensibly be said about the future?

There is nail-biting period between an author completing their book and its release. A phoney war if you will, a lull after the frenzy of the writing process and before what is to come.  

In precisely two months from now, on American Independence Day of all dates, Westlessness arrives. This is not some kind of declaration. The date is purely coincidental and you will no doubt sense the irony when you read the wonderful publishers blurb: 

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.

This is a MASSIVE topic. I hope you as a prospective reader are interested in these themes but also around how I have approached them. In books of this nature the journey of evidence and argumentation is as important as the destination.

What method is there to my madness when taking on these themes?

Historiography and Futurology

My intention when I wrote The Great Imperial Hangover a few years ago was clear. To examine different interpretations of imperial history and how they bear down on the present. My interest then was the impact of yesterday on today.

This time I’m much more interested in how today bears down on tomorrow. Over the next little while I’ll explain why. 

Writing a book of this nature is especially important right now. You may well agree that we are very perceptibly living through an era of immense global change. And these changes are effecting various aspects of our lives. 

And I simply don’t believe it can reduced down to a ‘US versus China’ formula, no matter how important this particular international rivalry is. If some of this sounds elliptical right now, I’ll be sharing with you more insights soon.

Most importantly, If this piques your interest and you are considering reading 'Westlessness: The Great Global Rebalancing', I kindly ask you to preorder. The visibility a book gains through preorders is crucial; it signals to bookstores and platforms like Amazon that this is a book to watch. This supports my work and ensures the book reaches as many readers as possible.

You will find it in your g-to bookshops and here is the link for Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Westlessness-Global-Rebalancing-Samir-Puri/dp/1399722638

Fifth time

I’m genuinely excited to hear what readers will think. Since this is not my first rodeo, I have already experiences the variability of responses that will come.

Still rather surprisingly to me, this is in fact my fifth book. The first two (‘Pakistan’s War on Terrorism’ and ‘Fighting and Negotiating with Armed Groups’) were squeezed out of my doctoral thesis. They were originally composed with a university examination in mind before their adaption to print. 

I tend to believe those who are committed to their art will improve with successive iterations. Surely a film director or a musician will have learned from their youthful productions and honed their style? Ditto, a writer of successive books will always know better how to approach a fresh topic. 

Given the topic at hand — the changing nature of the world we live in, in light of the previous massive dominance of the West — I’ve needed to call on all the experience I have accumulated by this point. And I’m pleased to welcome you along for the journey. 

Please spread the word to those who, like you and me, are wondering with greater curiosity than perhaps before just how different the future will be from the past.