Book excerpt: Are you confused or overwhelmed by international relations in general? Then The Struggle for Power: A Guide to International Relations since 1945 is for you. It takes the reader through the main developments which have occurred since the end of the Second World War and portrays how international relations now stand two decades into the 21st century. It covers two chronological periods, 1945 to 1991 and 1991 to the present day with the Cold War, East and West confrontation, arms control, mutually assured destruction, the rise and fall of détente, the weakening of the Soviet leadership post 1982, the accession of Gorbachev in 1985, the Commonwealth, and Europe from the Rome to Maastricht Treaties 1958 to 1992 plus several regional studies such as the Middle East, Africa and China.