Introduction: A Century of Challenges

Abstract

The first decade and a half of the twenty-first century has demonstrated that we are living in a time of rapid change, unanticipated crises, and general turmoil. These disruptions are occurring against the background of declining US influence and the rising power of countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Traditional inter-state security concerns coexist with new security preoccupations, such as the rivalries likely to erupt over the resources of the global commons, the threat of cyber warfare, and the economic and social repercussions of globalization. Will the twenty-first-century state be able to address the challenges posed by rapid change presaged by all these developments?