Haass spends much of A World in Disarray examining the state of international relations since the end of the Cold War. Although Part 1 of the book covers a good deal of history before this time, it mainly serves to provide context and trace how we got where we are today in the realm of foreign relations. The second and third parts of the book—comprising three-quarters of the material—focus on what has happened since 1991 and how the United States should conduct foreign policy going forward.

The crux of the author’s point is the paradox that international relations have worsened in many ways just when it seemed that they should improve with the end of the dangerous rivalry between the United States and Soviet Union. Haass details this argument particularly in Chapters 4 and 5. In part, this worsening reflected the absence of a balance of power, as the United States became the sole superpower. At the same time, however, multiple actors (not just states), ranging from multinational corporations to regional powers to terrorists, now had the ability and the means to influence world events. Moreover, less consensus existed for how to deal with the world’s challenges.