The World: A Brief Introduction

Richard Haass argues that global literacy is essential yet alarmingly absent from modern education. An encounter with a Stanford computer science student about to begin his senior year with little understanding of international affairs prompted his concern. Citing data showing that only 17 percent of American colleges require courses in U.S. government or history, Haass contends that citizens in an interconnected world cannot afford such ignorance. The book provides a foundational understanding of the world through four sections: essential history, regions of the world, global challenges, and world order.

The historical survey begins with the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), a European conflict with political and religious dimensions whose resolution, the Treaty of Westphalia, established the concept of sovereignty: Countries should accept one another's borders and refrain from interfering in each other's internal affairs. After the defeat of Napoleon, the French emperor, the Congress of Vienna (1814–1815) produced the Concert of Europe, a system maintaining stability through diplomatic cooperation and a balance of military power. Beyond Europe, Haass traces China's "century of humiliation" beginning with the Opium Wars, Japan's rapid modernization during the Meiji Restoration, a period of sweeping reforms that built a modern state and military, and the rise of the United States. He identifies World War I's causes as multiple: entangling alliances, rising German power, military mobilization pressures, nationalism, and the failure of diplomacy, with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary serving as the immediate trigger.

The war killed approximately nine million soldiers and resolved little. The Treaty of Versailles required Germany to accept blame, pay reparations, and accept military constraints, while the League of Nations, championed by President Woodrow Wilson, was fatally weakened when the U.S. Senate rejected American membership. Haass argues the League failed less from structural shortcomings than because Britain and France lacked the will to act on its principles. The Great Depression destabilized democracies and fueled fascism, enabling Adolf Hitler, Germany's fascist leader, to violate the Versailles Treaty without meaningful opposition. World War II proved even more devastating: more than 15 million soldiers and far more civilians died, including six million Jews in the Holocaust. The United States entered after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, and American power proved decisive, with atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki ending the Pacific war. Unlike after World War I, the defeated nations were transformed into democracies and integrated into new international arrangements.

The Cold War section examines the rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union. The United States favored democracy and free markets; the Soviet Union pursued collective ownership and a dominant state role. Haass explains how the rivalry stayed "cold" through a balance of military power anchored by NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and the Warsaw Pact, the Soviet-led military alliance. Nuclear deterrence through mutually assured destruction, in which both sides possessed the capability to guarantee devastating retaliation, further prevented direct conflict. Major tests included the Berlin blockade and airlift (1948–1949), the Korean War (1950–1953), and the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962). The Vietnam War receives extended attention as a prolonged conflict that cost 58,000 American and more than one million Vietnamese lives. The Cold War ended peacefully as the Soviet system collapsed under structural flaws and the burden of empire, while reforms introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev, the final Soviet leader, led to a loss of control domestically and across Eastern Europe.

The post-Cold War era begins with the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989. NATO expanded from 16 to 29 members, the first Gulf War (1990–1991) demonstrated the value of multilateral action, and the breakup of Yugoslavia revealed the challenges of ethnic conflict. The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks ushered in a new age of global terrorism, while the 2007–2008 financial crisis fueled inequality and populism. Relations with Russia deteriorated as Vladimir Putin, Russia's president, annexed Crimea, propped up Syria's government, and interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Sino-American relations evolved from cooperation to competition, driven by frustration over trade practices, intellectual property theft, and China's assertive foreign policy.

The regional survey examines six areas. Europe faces an uncertain future as Brexit, rising populism, and a renewed Russian threat erode confidence in the European Union and NATO. East Asia and the Pacific stands out as the most economically successful region, with China's economy growing from under $100 billion to over $13 trillion, though flashpoints persist over Taiwan, the South China Sea, and North Korea's nuclear program. South Asia is defined by India-Pakistan rivalry made more dangerous by nuclear weapons and the unresolved Kashmir dispute. The Middle East remains the most tumultuous region, marked by oil-dependent economies, autocratic governments, the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and Iran's emergence as a regional power; the Arab Spring, a wave of anti-government uprisings beginning in late 2010, largely failed to produce lasting democratic reform. Sub-Saharan Africa shows democratic gains alongside extreme poverty, rapid population growth, and governance challenges. The Americas benefit from relative calm between countries but contend with internal problems including Venezuela's near-collapse and Central American violence.

The third section addresses globalization, which Haass defines as the vast and fast flows across borders of people, goods, ideas, data, and much else. Terrorism claimed an average of nearly 20,000 lives annually from 2005 to 2017. Nine countries possess nuclear weapons, and the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA) was undermined when the United States withdrew under President Donald Trump, who argued the deal's limits were too short in duration and failed to address Iran's missile program or regional activities. Climate change, caused principally by fossil fuel combustion, is supported by near-consensus in the scientific community, yet even the Paris Agreement's targets are unlikely to be met. Forced displacement has reached 71 million people, the highest since World War II. The internet remains largely unregulated, creating vulnerabilities from intellectual property theft to election interference. Global health has improved dramatically, with life expectancy reaching 72 years, but noncommunicable diseases now cause the majority of deaths. International trade, valued at approximately $20 trillion in goods, faces barriers including tariffs, subsidies, and intellectual property theft, while the U.S. dollar functions as the de facto global reserve currency. Development has reduced extreme poverty from over one-third of the world's population in 1990 to under 10 percent, though inequality has widened, with the top 10 percent holding 85 percent of global wealth.

The final section examines world order through the lens of Hedley Bull, the international relations theorist whose book The Anarchical Society distinguishes between an international system, where entities merely interact, and an international society, where participants accept limits on behavior. Haass argues that sovereignty, buttressed by a balance of power and credible deterrence, provides the bedrock of order. Alliances like NATO strengthen order, but democracy, economic interdependence, and international law remain insufficient on their own. Wars between countries have become less common, though Haass warns that peace has been maintained through deliberate policies that could erode. Internal instability and civil wars generate terrorism, refugee flows, and disease outbreaks, with more than 1.5 billion people living in fragile states, those unable to control their territory or provide basic services.

Haass concludes that the liberal world order, the rules-based system created after World War II, is fraying. America's relative power and willingness to lead have declined, China is rising, Russia acts as a spoiler, and nationalism has surged. Resurrecting the old order is impossible, but strengthening its core elements is essential. The United States must shore up alliances, develop rules for cyberspace and climate change, and address domestic challenges including debt, infrastructure, and education. The central question is whether the past 75 years of relative stability represent an aberration or a sustainable achievement, and the answer depends on whether governments and citizens are prepared to invest in maintaining order.