In this major new work - the result of a lifetime of intellectual engagement - one of the developing world's most famous thinkers reflects on the times we live in. He argues that US hegemony has reached a dangerous new level under George Bush Jr, and that the US President's hubristic militarism will both lead to a never-ending cycle of wars and block all hopes of social and democratic progress, not just in developing countries, but in the North as well.Samir Amin also rejects the highly ideological notion that the current form of neoliberal capitalism - 'really existing capitalism' in which imperialism is an integral and permanent part - is an inevitable future for humanity, or in fact socially or politically tolerable. At the same time, he is not opposed to globalization as such; indeed he believes the whole world today is irrevocably connected, and that solidarity in diversity is the key to the struggle for a better world.In the body of the book, Amin provides a perspicacious analysis of tendencies within the rich countries - the US, Europe and Japan; the rising powers - China and India; the likely future trajectory of post-Soviet Russia; and the developing world. The central question he pursues is whether there are other hegemonic blocs that may emerge in time to circumscribe American power, and constrain free market capitalism and force it to adjust to demands other than its narrow central economic logic.This important and thought-provoking book identifies the key global campaigns Samir feels progressives should launch around the world. 'Another world is possible.' But, he warns, the diverse citizens' movements loosely gathered together in the World Social Forum must bite the political bullet and recognise that they can only transform the world if they seek political power.

Samir Amin is Director of the Third World Forum in Dakar, Senegal; and a co-founder of the World Forum for Alternatives.

IntroductionBeing clear about the nature of capitalism and imperialismIs there a desirable form of globalization?1. The Triad - America, Europe and Japan: united or fragmented?The project of the American ruling class: extension of the Monroe Doctrine to the rest of the worldThe shifting sands of the European projectThe clash of political culturesAnd Japan?2. Does the rise of China challenge the imperialist order?China's rise: revolution or opening to the world?Market socialism: transition, or short-cut to capitalism?So, what is to be done?An uncertain future3. Russia out of the tunnel?Basic characteristics of the Soviet systemNew forms of capitalism in RussiaIs there a worthwhile alternative in Russia today?4. India, a great power?The colonial inheritanceSuccess and limitations of the populist national projectThe liberal and culturalist driftThe long and difficult march of alternative globalization5. Can solidarity be rebuilt among the countries of the South?A critical balance-sheet of the 'Bandung era' (1955-1975)The roots of Africa's exclusionIs South Africa the weak link in the system?Can the slide of the Arab world be reversed?Latin America and the Caribbean in a tricontinental perspectiveThe East as a new South?A new basis for solidarity among the peoples of the South6. Reform of the UN as part of a multipolar globalizationManaging national sovereignty within the UN frameworkA balance-sheet of UN activity between 1945 and 1980Conflict and overlap between economic and political managementThe empire of chaos: sovereignty, social justice and development go by the boardThe alternative: constructing social justice, international justice and a new popular sovereigntyProposals for a renaissance of the UNA plan for action7. ConclusionsThe difficulties of constructing a multipolar worldCan Washington's military project be thwarted?Thinking long-termFour conditions to be satisfiedThe great strength of the global 'movement'Appendix 1: Multipolarity in the twentieth centuryThe drama of the great revolutionsThe weight of imperialism, the permanent stagte of the global expansion of capitalismDefence of the post-revolutionary states central to the vanguard's strategic choicesNation-building and/or socialist construction in the radical countries of the peripheryOpening debate on the long transition to world socialismAppendix 2: Further readingIndex