I have attempted to take the high ground, writes George Kennan in the foreword to this work, trying to stick to the broader discussion of things that would still be expected to be visible and significant in future decades. Against the background of a century of wars, revolution and uneasy peace, Kennan advances his thoughts on a broad front: how the individual's quest for power often translates into governments marked by an atmosphere of inflamed ambitions, rivalries, sensitivities, anxieties and suspicions; how a nation's size can create barriers between the rulers and the ruled. Rich in historical example, the volume is a summing up of the author's accumulated experience. A Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner, George F. Kennan is the author of 18 books on Russia and the Soviet Union, the nuclear issues and diplomatic history.