Since the Gulf War, debates on the future of war have often seemed intoxicated by the new military technology and the promise of quick, low-risk, low-casualty conflict.Recent wars in Kosovo and Chechnya, seem not to have disabused much of the public, the press and policy-makers of this perspective.

In his timely and compelling book, Professor Jeremy Black deepens the debate by focusing on the realities of war. In place of an over-sanguine estimate of the effectiveness of force-backed,Western meditation, the author dispassionately assesses the present, ant likely future, role of war in shaping the world order. Black explores key themes including the reality of "rogue states", the roles of gender and religion on the perceived rise of China as a orld power competing with the USA