"What role should America play in the world? What key challenges face us in the 21st century, and how should we define our national interests? These questions have been given electrifying new significance in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.".

"Not since Rome has any nation had so much economic, cultural, and military power, but that power does not allow us to solve global problems like terrorism, environmental degradation, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction without involving other nations. In The Paradox of American Power, Joseph S. Nye Jr. focuses on the rise of these and other new challenges and explains clearly why America must adopt a more cooperative engagement with the rest of the world."--BOOK JACKET.