Book excerpt: This book propounds the thesis that it was the dysfunction of globalization and liberalism that prompted the rise of nationalism and populism. Recent developments in global affairs are challenging assumptions and the basis upon which international relations, as a broad field of specialization, and foreign policy analysis, as a sub-field, rests. In a world that is changing in fundamental and irreversible ways, this book intervenes to enable an improved sense of understanding of these developments and what they mean for people-people, state-state, continent-continent, and global relations, moving forward. The author shows anti-globalization and the growth of nationalism and populism have been particularly necessitated by the failures of liberalism and America’s abdication from the world. With reference to Brexit, the pandemic, the US 2020 elections and consequent shifts in power, with a focus on their respective impacts on Africa, and Africa-Sino relations particularly, and developing countries, more broadly, this book situates these discussions within a global context. It effectively illustrates the insufficiency of the West’s soft power, especially as it is foisted or supposedly imposed on the rest of the world without regard to the demands of cultural relativity. Relevant to postgraduate students, researchers, and policymakers, this is must-read within the fields of international relations and political economy.