About national & international power in the 'Modern' or Post Renaissance period. Explains how the various powers have risen & fallen over the 5 centuries since the formation of the 'new monarchies' in W.Europe.

Acknowledgments vii
Maps xi
Tables and Charts xiii
Introduction xv
STRATEGY AND ECONOMICS IN THE PREINDUSTRIAL
WORLD
The Rise of the Western World 3 (28)
Ming China 4 (5)
The Muslim World 9 (5)
Two Outsiders---Japan and Russia 14 (2)
The ``European Miracle'' 16 (15)
The Habsburg Bid for Mastery, 1519--1659 31 (42)
The Meaning and Chronology of the Struggle 32 (9)
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Habsburg 41 (14)
Bloc
International Comparisons 55 (15)
War, Money, and the Nation-State 70 (3)
Finance, Geography, and the Winning of Wars, 73 (70)
1660--1815
The ``Financial Revolution'' 76 (10)
Geopolitics 86 (14)
The Winning of Wars, 1660--1763 100 (15)
The Winning of Wars, 1763--1815 115 (28)
STRATEGY AND ECONOMICS IN THE INDUSTRIAL ERA
Industrialization and the Shifting Global 143 (51)
Balances, 1815--1885
The Eclipse of the Non-European World 147 (4)
Britain as Hegemon? 151 (7)
The ``Middle Powers'' 158 (12)
The Crimean War and the Erosion of Russian 170 (8)
Power
The United States and the Civil War 178 (4)
The Wars of German Unification 182 (9)
Conclusions 191 (3)
The Coming of a Bipolar World and the Crisis 194 (81)
of the ``Middle Powers'': Part One, 1885--1918
The Shifting Balance of World Forces 198 (4)
The Position of the Powers, 1885--1914 202 (47)
Alliances and the Drift to War, 1890--1914 249 (7)
Total War and the Power Balances, 1914--1918 256 (19)
The Coming of a Bipolar World and the Crisis 275 (72)
of the ``Middle Power'': Part Two, 1919--1942
The Postwar International Order 275 (16)
The Challengers 291 (29)
The Offstage Superpowers 320 (13)
The Unfolding Crisis, 1931--1942 333 (14)
STRATEGY AND ECONOMICS TODAY AND TOMORROW
Stability and Change in a Bipolar World, 347 (91)
1943--1980
``The Proper Application of Overwhelming 347 (10)
Force''
The New Strategic Landscape 357 (16)
The Cold War and the Third World 373 (22)
The Fissuring of the Bipolar World 395 (18)
The Changing Economic Balances, 1950 to 1980 413 (25)
To the Twenty-first Century 438 (98)
History and Speculation 438 (9)
China's Balancing Act 447 (11)
The Japanese Dilemma 458 (13)
The EEC---Potential and Problems 471 (17)
The Soviet Union and Its ``Contradictions'' 488 (26)
The United States: The Problem of Number 514 (22)
One in Relative Decline
Epilogue 536 (5)
Notes 541 (84)
Bibliography 625 (38)
Index 663