Frédéric Encel offers a bold reflection on the current global order. From his informed vantage on the Middle East and terrorism, he maintains investigating the power a state can wield on the international level is not anachronistic, and even essential if Westerners wish to keep playing a strategic role instead of succumbing to a new world order.
Starting from a geopolitical context, he explores psychological and political effects, turning power into a positive concept. Moreover, he shows how a state's renunciation of power comes from a misunderstanding of the goals of politics. Thus the politics of power remain legitimate guiding principles for state action on an international level.