This chapter analyzes the Reagan administrations realist and Cold War foreign policy approach and the realist/idealist approach of the George H.W. Bush administration as the Cold War was ending.

This chapter explores the relationship between the transformations in global capitalism that were taking place at the end of the twentieth century and the rise of postmodernism as, in the words of Fredric Jameson, the ‘cultural logic’ of those transformations. It examines the argument that this postmodern culture of transnational corporatism challenged modern distinctions between economics and politics, and even threatened the sovereignty of the nation-state. Taking three prominent accounts of postmodern culture (by Fredric Jameson, Jean Baudrillard and Jean-François Lyotard) as its central focus, the chapter introduces the key theoretical categories of each and, by reading these in relation to influential literary texts from the period, examines how both theoretical and literary writing responded to and shaped the new economic and political climates of those decades.

This chapter examines three intersecting dynamics underpinning regional order during the 1990s. The first dynamic centres on the Gulf. The chapter examines Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent divergence between Iranian and Iraqi hegemonic strategies, as well as Saudi Arabia’s efforts to preserve its primacy in the face of a moderating Iran and rising domestic opposition. The second dynamic concerns the rise of Islamist, including jihadist, opposition movements as by-products of renewed neoliberalisation and growing disillusionment with the New World Order. The chapter discusses the rise of Islamist opposition with a particular focus on Egypt. The final key regional dynamic was the Arab-Israeli peace process, and the chapter discusses the ways in which the ‘dualistic’ foreign policies of Syria and Israel reflected their broader hegemonic strategies.

The idea of creating a sustainable social order is as old as the history of mankind and has come to be perceived by all civilizations as their ultimate goal. These quests to establish order have sometimes remained at a city-state level, while at other times they have transcended geographical limits to transform into comprehensive and inclusive political orders. When it encompassed a number of civilizational basins, this comprehensive nature ultimately embraced the assertion of establishing a world order.

While their basic creeds, ideologies and tools may differ, their search for world order can be classified in terms of method and type of approach into three eras; antiquity/traditional, modernity and globality. An understanding of these eras’ intrinsically shared features as well as the elements of continuity between them is a prerequisite to being able to shed light on the problematics we face today with respect to the world order.

From this perspective in the first chapter of the book a background to the historical course of world order is provided under the headings of traditional, modern and global world orders.

In his 1995 treatise Fairness in International Law and Institutions, Thomas Franck described what he called the ‘reality-altering’ potential of the UN Charter’s system of collective security in these words.