 Ling was the lead advocate for "worldism", a theory of international relations.Worldism posits that the dominant geopolitical order, defined as the Westphalian world/Western IR, is a singular social construction that interacts competitively and creatively with 'other worlds' – other social and political orders.The theory itself blends together insights from Taoism, feminism, postcolonialism, and social constructivism to critique the militaristic focus of contemporary international relations and realist analysis of it.