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Contents
Foreword
Preface

iii v Chapter 1
The Cold War Era

1

Chapter 2
The End of Bipolarity

17

Chapter 3
US Hegemony in World Politics

31

Chapter 4
Alternative Centres of Power

51

Chapter 5
Contemporary South Asia

65

Chapter 6
International Organisations

81

Chapter 7
Security in the Contemporary World

99

Chapter 8
Environment and Natural Resources

117

Chapter 9
Globalisation

135

Chapter 1

The Cold War Era
OVERVIEW
This chapter provides a backdrop to the entire book. The end of the
Cold War is usually seen as the beginning of the contemporary era in world politics which is the subject matter of this book. It is, therefore, appropriate that we begin the story with a discussion of the Cold War. The chapter shows how the dominance of two superpowers, the United States of
America and the Soviet Union, was central to the Cold War. It tracks the various arenas of the
Cold War in different parts of the world. The chapter views the NonAligned Movement (NAM) as a challenge to the dominance of the two superpowers and describes the attempts by the non-aligned countries to establish a New
International Economic Order
(NIEO) as a means of attaining economic development and political independence. It concludes with an assessment of
India’s role in NAM and asks how successful the policy of nonalignment has been in protecting
India’s interests.

The end of the Second World War led to the rise of two major centres of power. The two pictures above symbolise the victory of the US and the USSR in the Second World War.
1. American soldiers raising the US flag during the Battle of
Iwo Jima, Japan, on 23 February 1945
Credit: Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima,
Photograph by Joe Rosenthal/The Associated Press
2. Soviet soldiers raising the USSR flag on the