While the events of 9/11 provoked countless debates about international politics, security, and global order, one question dominates. Should America don the mantle of empire for the sake of world peace, or will peace come through world government?

This volume questions the very assumptions of this debate – that the political order is hierarchical, with state and international institutions at the top and groups and individuals at the bottom. Case studies dealing with Canada’s role in the construction and maintenance of global order, both domestically and internationally, reveal that the location of social and political practices creating global order is no longer certain. Rather than taking the state and international system for granted, this book demonstrates that global order post-9/11 is not exclusively American – allied powers are a key component of its hegemony.