From Mongol invasions to modern US-Russia relations—how global geopolitics shift in unforeseeable ways

It has been almost 30 years since Francis Fukuyama proposed that we were entering into an era of triumph for Western liberalism he called "the end of history." Today this notion seems absurd. Political and military "strong men" once again hold sway over large portions of the globe; emerging world superpowers revive "Great Game"-style geopolitics; and worldwide catastrophes destabilize what were once thought stable borders. The essays in this volume give the reader purchase on the seemingly quickening pace of history by considering specific areas of geopolitics today, as well as historical moments when the global situation seemed to shift decisively.