icnlude index

Includes bibliographical references (pages 372-409) and index

Machine generated contents note: 1. Two Shocks That Made Our World ��ncandescent with Moral Clarity': The Post-Cold War Present -- 2. Gulf Rivals -- 3. Islamic State (ISIS): Messages In Blood -- 4. The Sick Man of Europe: Erdogan's Turkey -- 5. Failed Nation? Russia Under Putin -- 6. China: A Country for Old Men -- 7. The USA: The Noisy Nation -- 8. Empire of Virtue: The European Union

"In the decades since the end of the Second World War, it has been widely assumed that the western model of liberal democracy and free trade is the way the world should be governed. However, events in the early years of the 21st century - first, the 2003 war with Iraq and its chaotic aftermath and, second, the financial crash of 2008 - have threatened the general acceptance that continued progress under the benign (or sometimes not so benign) gaze of the western powers is the only way forwards. And as America turns inwards and Europe is beset by austerity politics and populist nationalism, the post-war consensus looks less and less secure. But is this really the worst of times? In a forensic examination of the world we now live in, historian Michael Burleigh sets out to answer that question."-- Provided by publisher