Haass begins with the Brexit vote in June of 2016, in which British voters chose to withdraw from the European Union, as a way of introducing the idea that “[p]opulism and nationalism are on the rise” (2). He then traces this trend back to the end of the Cold War 25 years earlier, a time of great hope and optimism about the future of the world. Thus, how we got to where we are today needs some explaining. (In a brief Foreword of only four paragraphs, he also mentions the November 2016 election in the United States, which took place just after the book was completed. This event only underscores the challenges and uncertainty of what lies ahead.)

He explains that the genesis of the book was a series of three lectures he was invited to give at the University of Cambridge in 2015. The preparation for those lectures helped him formulate his ideas, but he decided there was more to it all and that his view was developing with the events of 2015 and early 2016. The world in general was going through many challenges, but so were individual nations—including mature democracies. Globalization and the somewhat diminishing stature of nations are two factors contributing to these challenges.