World politics since 1945 / 9th ed.

There are some things worth celebrating: World Politics Since 1945 remains one of the best overviews of contemporary international history, full of elegant writing and shrewd judgement.
The Second World War was a huge man-made catastrophe. When it ended two issues towered over all others: recovery and a new political order. Their respective symbols were American aid (chiefly the Marshall Plan) and the United Nations. The main business of the UN was to prevent wars, especially big wars and very specifically nuclear war, but the UN and its affiliated bodies were also designed to promote prosperity, relieve poverty and bolster justice. Coincidentally the political map of the world was transformed by the demolition of European empires outside Europe.
The main aim of this book is to provide material to help to assess how far this programme of unparalleled ambition has been achieved over the short span of two generations.