ABSTRACT
The state of relations among Europe, the United States, Japan, Canada, and other highly developed countries resemble the globalized world depicted in the first model. By contrast, areas in the Middle East and Africa resemble Robert Kaplan's chaotic world. And certainly the realist world vision appears in a variety of relationships, including those between India and Pakistan and between the United States and Russia. In a world dominated by liberal institutions, nongovernmental organizations would play a major role in managing violence and relieving human suffering. Governments of major states acting in what they regard as the national interest make decisions on our behalf. In the world, economic interdependence has produced peace and prosperity. The transformation of global politics and changing patterns of authority, identities, and resource distribution in any era are likely to be accompanied by anxiety and instability. Several futures are possible, but, as the predictions above suggest, even the best informed observers often get it wrong.
