Introduction

As noted in the Introduction, the global transformation was asynchronous and interactive, produced by the ‘promiscuous interconnections’ of peoples, institutions and practices on a worldwide scale (Bayly, 2004: 5; Hobson, 2004: 304). These promiscuous interconnections so transformed the means by which power was accumulated and expressed that it generated ‘the first ever global hierarchy of physical, economic and cultural power’ (Darwin, 2007: 298), a ‘single power network’ with its centre in northwestern Europe (Mann, 1993: 11). The contemporary international order sits downstream from this first global power hierarchy and is largely constructed in the terms and forms established by it.

This chapter takes a closer look at these dynamics. The first section examines previous macro-transformations in world history. Second, we demonstrate how the range of dynamics that emerged during the nineteenth century intertwined in a powerful configuration that reshaped the bases of international order sufficiently to justify comparison with these previous transformations. The third part shows that this configuration continues to serve as the underpinning for much of contemporary international relations.

The General Nature of World Historical Transformations

Our argument could be read as making the case for the long nineteenth century as containing a series of transformations sufficient to warrant being seen as an epochal shift. We are not wholly opposed to such a reading. But we do not want to be drawn into the range of controversies that surround debates around macro-periodization (Buzan and Little, 2000: 389–406).