Richard Haass

The World is designed to provide readers of any age and experience with the essential background needed to answer important critical questions about the world we live in, empowering them to manage the flood of daily news. Readers will become more informed, 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. 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.

A Brief Introduction

The World

An examination of a world increasingly defined by disorder and a United States unable to shape the world in its image, from the president of the Council on Foreign Relations Things fall a∂ the center cannot hold. The rules, policies, and institutions that have guided the world since World War II have largely run their course. Respect for sovereignty alone cannot uphold order in an age defined by global challenges from terrorism and the spread of nuclear weapons to climate change and cyberspace. Meanwhile, great power rivalry is returning. Weak states pose problems just as confounding as strong ones. The United States remains the world's strongest country, but American foreign policy has at times made matters worse, both by what the U.S. has done and by what it has failed to do. The Middle East is in chaos, Asia is threatened by China's rise and a reckless North Korea, and Europe, for decades the world's most stable region, is now anything but. As Richard Haass explains, the election of Donald Trump and the unexpected vote for "Brexit" signals that many in modern democracies reject important aspects of globalization, including borders open to trade and immigrants. In A World in Disarray, Haass argues for an updated global operating system--call it world order 2.0--that reflects the reality that power is widely distributed and that borders count for less. One critical element of this adjustment will be adopting a new approach to sovereignty, one that embraces its obligations and responsibilities as well as its rights and protections. Haass also details how the U.S. should act towards China and Russia, as well as in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. He suggests, too, what the country should do to address its dysfunctional politics, mounting debt, and the lack of agreement on the nature of its relationship with the world. A World in Disarray is a wise examination, one rich in history, of the current world, along with how we got here and what needs doing. Haass shows that the world cannot have stability or prosperity without the United States, but that the United States cannot be a force for global stability and prosperity without its politicians and citizens reaching a new understanding.

American Foreign Policy and the Crisis of the Old Order

A World in Disarray

A provocative guide to how we must reenvision citizenship if American democracy is to survive The United States faces dangerous threats from Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, terrorists, climate change, and future pandemics. The greatest peril to the country, however, comes not from abroad but from within, from none other than ourselves. The question facing us is whether we are prepared to do what is necessary to save our democracy. The Bill of Obligations is a bold call for change. In these pages, New York Times bestselling author Richard Haass argues that the very idea of citizenship must be revised and expanded. The Bill of Rights is at the center of our Constitution, yet our most intractable conflicts often emerge from contrasting views as to what our rights ought to be. As former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer pointed out, “Many of our cases, the most difficult ones, are not about right versus wrong. They are about right versus right.” The lesson is clear: Rights alone cannot provide the basis for a functioning, much less flourishing, democracy. But there is a cure: to place obligations on the same footing as rights. The ten obligations that Haass introduces here are essential for healing our divisions and safeguarding the country’s future. These obligations reenvision what it means to be an American citizen. They are not a burden but rather commitments that we make to fellow citizens and to the government to uphold democracy and counter the growing apathy, anger, selfishness, division, disinformation, and violence that threaten us all. Through an expert blend of civics, history, and political analysis, this book illuminates how Americans can rediscover and recover the attitudes and behaviors that have contributed so much to this country’s success over the centuries. As Richard Haass argues, “We get the government and the country we deserve. Getting the one we need, however, is up to us.” The Bill of Obligations gives citizens across the political spectrum a plan of action to achieve it.

The Ten Habits of Good Citizens

The Bill of Obligations

Richard N. Haass

With the signing of the intermediate-range nuclear forces (INF) treaty in December 1987, a chapter in NATO history came to an end. This agreement eliminated an entire class of nuclear weapons from Europe. This volume analyzes the possible repercussions of the INF treaty in the context of NATO's overall doctrine of flexible response, and concludes that the U.S. and NATO must adopt arms and arms control policies consistent with one another and with NATO doctrine. Co-published with the Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University.

Arms, Arms Control, and the Atlantic Alliance

Beyond the INF Treaty

The New York Times Bestseller “A superb introduction to the world and global issues. Richard Haass has written something that is brief, readable, and yet comprehensive—marked throughout by his trademark intelligence and common sense.” —Fareed Zakaria An invaluable primer from Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, that will help anyone, expert and non-expert alike, navigate a time in which many of our biggest challenges come from the world beyond our borders. We live in a global era, in which what happens thousands of miles away often affects our lives. 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. Globalization can be both good and bad, but it is not something that individuals or countries can opt out of. The choice we face is how to respond. The World focuses on history, what makes each region of the world tick, the many challenges globalization presents, and the most influential countries, events, and ideas, to provide readers with the background they need to make sense of this complicated and interconnected world.

Richard Haass

About

Books

Join the club