The World

An invaluable primer from the president of the Council on Foreign Relations that will help anyone navigate our fast-changing world

Today's headlines generate more questions than answers. Should the United States attack North Korea and Iran or negotiate with them? What are the implications of climate change and what should be done about it? Are tariffs a good idea? What do we owe refugees and others who want to enter our country? Should democratic countries promote democracy and human rights elsewhere? What can be done to stop terrorism? Are the United States and China heading for a second cold war-and, if so, what can be done to head it off?

The World provides readers with the essential background needed to answer these and other critical questions. Readers will become more informed, discerning citizens, better able to arrive at sound, independent judgments and to hold elected representatives to account. In short, this book will make readers more globally literate. Although the United States is bordered by two oceans, those oceans are not moats. And the so-called Vegas rule-what happens there stays there-does not apply in today's globalized world to anyone anywhere. U.S. foreign policy is uniquely American, but the world Americans seek to shape is not.

Explaining complex ideas with wisdom and clarity, Richard Haass's The World is an evergreen book that will remain relevant and useful even as history continues to unfold.