The most significant development in global politics following the end of the bi-polar Cold War era has been the rise of a multi-polar state system. This has led to the emergence of major potential super-powers, global rivalry, international terrorism and the gradual weakening of the one remaining hegemonic, uni-polar state after the Cold War - the US. The idealistic hopes following the collapse of communism have evaporated and Cold War competition between liberal capitalism and communism has been replaced by multi-polar global rivalry that can only be resolved by a balance of power buttressed by international law. In this ambitious and thought-provoking book, Professor Rein Müllerson outlines the challenges associated with the new geopolitics of the twenty-first century. Based on in-depth research over several decades it is an essential tool for understanding the new world order and the ensuing crises in global politics.