Based on a series of lectures given at the London School of Economics in May 2000, Fred Halliday sets out to give us a 360-degree overview of the contemporary issues and debates in international relations. The task is unenviable, but Halliday's effort is at once broad in its range of topics, deep in its analysis, and nuanced in its presentation—not only of the current debates but also in clearly articulating his own positions. Halliday includes a remarkably concise history of the 20th century: chapters on war and security and on major trends in world politics (all of which he critiques), including what he terms hegemonic optimism, liberal reform, the new anti-imperialism, and the new middle ages; a wonderful chapter that debunks much of the hype about globalization; a much needed critique of U.S. foreign policy under the title, “The Unaccountable Hegemon”; discussions of the difference between past efforts at global government and today's more practical and less centralized “global governance” and of the problems and pitfalls of defending cultural differences (for reasons I formulate later, I consider this perhaps the only weak chapter); and a conclusion on how to move toward what he calls a “radical universalism.”