The Strategic Earth Volume X: The Unipolar Moment and its Fractures (1990 – 2008) Editor, October 30, 2026 by Global East-West For Studies & Publishing Editor: Hichem Karoui Publisher: Global East-West for Studies & Publishing The collapse of the Soviet Union created a world in which the United States possessed an extraordinary concentration of military, economic and diplomatic power. For a time, the emergence of a predominantly American-led order appeared to offer a new foundation for international stability. Yet the decades following the Cold War revealed the persistent influence of geography, national interests, historical memory and political resistance. The Strategic Earth, Volume X: The Unipolar Moment and Its Fractures (1990–2008) examines this transformation through fifteen chapters devoted to the defining strategic developments of the period. The narrative begins with the implosion of the bipolar system and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It then examines the architecture of American primacy, the enlargement of NATO, the reordering of Europe and Russia’s difficult transition to a new political and economic system. The expansion of international trade and networked production brought unprecedented interdependence, while simultaneously creating new dependencies and strategic vulnerabilities. The rise of China and the re-emergence of Eurasia complicated expectations of a durable unipolar world. Meanwhile, non-state actors and asymmetric warfare exposed weaknesses in conventional approaches to security. The attacks of September 11, 2001, transformed the strategic agenda. Afghanistan and Iraq became testing grounds for new doctrines of intervention, pre-emption, counterinsurgency and nation-building. These conflicts raised enduring questions about sovereignty, legitimacy, intelligence, military effectiveness and the relationship between force and political outcomes. The volume also explores nuclear disputes, regional flashpoints, energy competition and the strategic implications of the 2008 conflict in Georgia. Together, these developments illuminate the widening gap between the possession of overwhelming power and the ability to shape international events. Written for readers interested in history, politics and global affairs, the book offers a historically grounded introduction to the strategic tensions that shaped the post-Cold War period. Its central concern is not simply how the United States became predominant but why that predominance encountered increasingly consequential limits. As Volume X of The Strategic Earth, it bridges the Cold War’s bipolar order and the renewed great-power competition explored in Volume XI. For students, independent researchers, educators and general readers, this book provides a framework for understanding how the geopolitical choices of 1990–2008 helped shape the international environment that followed. Buy directly from the Publisher at a promotional Price: https://bookspace.com/gew/the-strategic-earth-volume-x Collection: Geopolitics GEW Reports & Analyses GEW Strategic Studies Global and International Non-Fiction Our Books Social Sciences & Humanities The Strategic Earth World Affairs 1990–2008American foreign policyAmerican foreign policy after the Cold WarAsymmetric warfare and national securityChina’s rise and the changing world orderContemporary geopolitical historyContemporary political historyEurasiaEurasian strategic competitionEuropean securityGeopoliticsGeopolitics of energy and infrastructureGlobalisationGlobalisation and strategic interdependencehistory of international relationsInternational relationsMilitary strategyNATO and the transformation of EuropeNuclear diplomacy and non-proliferationPost-Cold War historyPost-Soviet Russia and the European security orderSecurity studiesThe origins of twenty-first-century great-power rivalry