Book that Senator John McCain likes

By M&C News May 21, 2008, 12:14 GMT

Hopes for a new peaceful international order after the end of the Cold War have been dashed by sobering realities: Great powers are once again competing for honor and influence. Nation-states remain as strong as ever, as do the old, explosive forces of ambitious nationalism. The world remains “unipolar,” but international competition among the United States, Russia, China, Europe, Japan, India, and Iran raise new threats of regional conflict. Communism ...more

“In this important, timely, and superbly-written book, Robert Kagan shows that the ‘end of history’ was an illusion. Today’s global challenges pose a stern test for the world’s democracies. This book is a wake-up call and should be read by policymakers, politicians, pundits and all who want a guide to the dangerous waters of 21st century geopolitics,” is what John McCain stated about this book.

Well, if McCain thinks highly of it, then…

Robert Kagan’s The Return of History and the End of Dreams is what the NYT has called: “a brief and wonderfully argued volume on how the world has a nasty habit of spinning off in its own directions, has a message for Americans of all political stripes: Good luck with that one. The cold war may be over, he declares in The Return of History and the End of Dreams, but anyone who thinks the result was really “the end of history” — a consensus that liberal democracy is the future — should take another look.”

“For the past few years, the liberal world has been internally divided and distracted by issues both profound and petty. Now, in The Return of History and the End of Dreams, Robert Kagan masterfully poses the most important questions facing the liberal democratic countries, challenging them to choose whether they want to shape history or let others shape it for them,” the product description states.

Knopf is the publisher. Visit the NYT article here.