Quiet Cataclysm: Reflections on the Recent Transformation of World Politics

by John Mueller

**High-quality paperback reproduction of the original with supervision of the author** Did you miss World War III? Perhaps that is because it was astoundingly quiet. Quiet Cataclysm examines how, in the last few years, the world has undergone the functional equivalent of World War A major empire has dismembered, important political boundaries in Europe were reorganized, and several nations were politically transformed. Yet, unlike its predecessors, this world war ended with scarcely a shot fired.

In this book, John Mueller analyzes how this remarkably peaceful change came about, how it affects our view of the past, and what it suggests about the future. In these pages, students will first realize how the world’s problems are frequently just the reflection of opposing ideas, and, as such, can be resolved without military conflict. Second, they will understand that military considerations are often irrelevant to central issues in international politics--that they are an indication of tension, not the cause. Lastly, students will see how big problems--because they are simply about ideas--can change as quickly as the latest trends.

226 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2009