This textbook provides up-to-date information on the evolution and formation of the contemporary international system. It is designed to be of use to students studying international relations and politics, as well as general readers with an interest in the subject. We live in an era when the international system is changing very rapidly, and the rivalry between the great powers is intensifying. There is intense competition among the great powers to change the balance of power in the anarchic international system in their favor. Next generations will see soon if Washington will manage to preserve the liberal international order. The main argument of this book is that neither China, nor Russia, with its limited military capacity and growing domestic woes, cannot destroy the liberal international order and create an alternative world order in the foreseeable future.