Flashpoints: Promise and Peril in a New World

With the decline of Cold War confrontation, the world is plunging headlong into ``an age of galloping localism'' even as it becomes more economically interdependent. That paradox runs like a thread through this provocative, sobering, very readable look at our possible future in the '90s and beyond. Wright ( Sacred Rage ) and McManus ( Landslide: The Unmaking of the President, 1984-1988 ) envision a ``multipolar'' world in which no single power can gain the upper hand. In their scenario, the Soviet Union, China and Canada will each dissolve to form new entities, while Turkestan, a new nation or confederation, could unite millions of Muslims from Europe to China. Ironically, even as the Cold Warriors talk peace, arms proliferation, rising terrorism and a wave of ethnic and nationalistic conflict spell an uncertain future in a world increasingly polarized between the industrialized and underdeveloped nations. The authors interviewed street people and heads of state on six continents for this sweeping probe. (Dec.)