Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: The question of world order -- Europe : the pluralistic international order -- The European balance-of-power system and its end -- Islamism and the Middle East : a world in disorder -- The United States and Iran : approaches to order -- The multiplicity of Asia -- Toward an Asian order : confrontation or partnership? -- "Acting for all mankind" : the United States and its concept of order -- The United States : ambivalent superpower -- Technology, equilibrium, and human consciousness -- Conclusion: World order in our time?

Kissinger offers his analysis of the twenty-first century's ultimate challenge: how to build a shared international order in a world of divergent historic perspectives, violent conflict, proliferating technology, and ideological extremism.