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A world in disarray : American foreign policy and the crisis of the old order / Richard Haass.
"An examination of a world increasingly defined by disorder and a United States unable to shape the world in its image, from the president of the Council on Foreign Relations. Things fall apart; the center cannot hold. The rules, policies, and institutions that have guided the world since World War II have largely run their course. Respect for sovereignty alone cannot uphold order in an age defined by global challenges from terrorism and the spread of nuclear weapons to climate change and cyberspace. Meanwhile, great-power rivalry is returning. Weak states pose problems just as confounding as strong ones. The United States remains the world's strongest country, but American foreign policy has at times made matters worse, both by what the United States has done and by what it has failed to do. The Middle East is in chaos, Asia is threatened by China's rise and a reckless North Korea, and Europe, for decades the world's most stable region, is now anything but. As Richard Haass explains, the election of Donald Trump and the unexpected vote for Brexit signals that many in modern democracies reject important aspects of globalization, including borders open to trade and immigrants. In A World in Disarray, Richard Haass argues for an updated global operating system that reflects the reality that power is widely distributed and that borders count for less. One critical element of this adjustment will be adopting a new approach to sovereignty, one that embraces its obligations and responsibilities as well as its rights and protections. Haass also details how the United States should act towards China and Russia, as well as in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. He suggests, too, what the country should do to address its dysfunctional politics, mounting debt, and the lack of agreement on the nature of its relationship with the world. A wise examination, one rich in history, of the current world, along with how we got here and what needs doing. Haass shows that the world cannot have stability or prosperity without the United States, but that the United States cannot be a force for global stability and prosperity without its politicians and citizens reaching a new understanding."--Provided by publisher.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780399562365 (hc.)
- Physical Description: xii, 339 p. ; 22 cm.
- Publisher: New York : Penguin Press, [2017]
Content descriptions
| Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 313-330) and index. |
| Formatted Contents Note: | From war through world war -- Cold War -- The other order -- The post-Cold War world -- A global gap -- Regional realities -- Pieces of process -- What is to be done? -- Thwarting Thucydides -- World order 2.0 -- Regional responses -- A country in disarray. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | International relations. World politics. United States > Foreign relations > 1989- |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Valemount Public Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valemount Public Library | anf 327.73 haa (Text) | 35194014261010 | Adult non-fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2016 October #2
A public policy insider mines the nuances of states' sovereignty and legitimacy in an increasingly unstable world.Divided into three parts, delineating something of a past, present, and future approach, this systematic work by Council on Foreign Relations president Haass (Foreign Policy Begins at Home: The Case for Putting America's House in Order, 2013, etc.) finds that the bland optimism maintained throughout the Cold War due to the grip of atomic deterrence has been unloosed by new structural and economic forces. For nations big or small, good or bad, these forces increasingly involve internal breakdowns requiring humanitarian intervention and occasionally lead to terrorism. In the first part, the author reaches back to the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) to show how the sovereignty of states was first acknowledged and respected; that order was "based on a balance of power involving independent states that do not interfere with one another's âinternal business.' " Subsequently, the Congress of Vienna helped to determine the sovereignty of states in the 19th century. While the world wars saw the breakdown of the Westphalian orderâin the case of World War I, it was accidental and unintended, a "failure of deterrence and of diplomacy"âthe era since 1945 has been transformational, with the former villains Germany and Japan now models of "regime change." Moving from the Cold War to the present sense of disorder, rife with regional disputes, Haass sees Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and the American response as the beginning of troubling new developments (although the author applauds U.S. activism). The push back against Iraq and other trouble spots, where internal brutality prompted international intervention on humanitarian grounds, drove the adoption of the Responsibility to Protect doctrine by the United Nations in 2005. The author concludes his knowledgeable but overlong narrative with some predictions for the futureâe.g., "mounting debt will hasten the demise of the dollar as the world's reserve currency." A highly learned but sometimes-ponderous survey that will appeal to policy wonks. For most readers, a long-form essay would have sufficed. Copyright Kirkus 2016 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2017 January #1
After reviewing the origins of the modern state system and the post-World War II world order, Republican foreign policy stalwart Haass (president, Council on Foreign Relations;
Copyright 2017 Library Journal.Foreign Policy Begins at Home ) lays out what foreign policies the United States should pursue. Haass describes how "disarray" has replaced the former Great Power World Order. In this environment of disorder, he analyzes how both nations and nonstate actors will continue to challenge the United States for the remainder of the 21st century. Most importantly, Haass contends, wide acceptance that nations have "sovereign obligations" must balance respect for sovereign rights. Nations have a responsibility to the rest of the world in their internal and external behavior because the world is so closely interconnected. In Haass's view, this duty applies to the United States, where the excessive national debt and political dysfunction, for example, so affects the rest of the world. Interestingly, Haass supports free trade, NATO, and immigration reformâconcepts that have lost popular and political support in recent times.VERDICT This book will appeal to readers interested in contemporary U.S. foreign policy and the perspective of the main-line Republican foreign policy establishment. [See Prepub Alert, 8/1/16.]âMark Jones, Mercantile Lib., Cincinnati - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2016 October #1
This foreign policy overview from Haass (Foreign Policy Begins at Home), president of the Council on Foreign Relations, will draw notice, but little surprise, from policymakers and the international community. Haass maintains that the world that followed WWII has run its course; great-power rivalries are returning, and Europe is newly unstable. With Brexit, which starts Haass's study, the globalism and limited national sovereignty he has long endorsed seem to be in decline. The first half of the book surveys the world of the early 21st century, which Haass regards as one where borders count for less. The second lays out a nebulous, glibly labeled "World Order 2.0," followed by rapid-fire policy prescriptions. Haass lists many topics of topical interest, though a few paragraphs apiece on climate change, cyberspace, and other widely publicized concerns are not enough. Informed but derivative, Haass's self-declared centrism tends toward platitudes; he even invokes Goldilocks as "the ultimate centrist." He sidesteps rising nationalism and religious conflicts but is thoughtful about U.S. economic policies, warning convincingly of entitlement and debt burdens corroding the dollar. Haass's sensible policy prescriptions will not disturb prevailing consensus in the international community, nor are they meant to. His volume adds up to well-crafted conventional wisdom from the foreign-policy establishment. Agent: Andrew Wylie, Wylie Agency. (Jan.) Copyright 2016 Publisher Weekly.
