In this book, Professor Bracken reveals new details about the Iraqi missile and biological warfare program, showing how close Israel actually came to a germ attack during the Gulf War; explodes the comforting Western belief that "globalization" will inevitably lead Asian nations into peaceful economic competition.

In fact, he says, it works the other way: economic progress both spurs and makes possible the development of weapons of mass destruction; shows how American bases, allies, and interests are increasingly endangered by Asian nationalism; and teaches us how to navigate not the post-cold war era, but what he names The Second Nuclear Age.

Professor Bracken provides a new intellectual framework for a world in which being the only superpower poses as many dangers as it does opportunities. Fire in the East is a template for thinking about the future in the new global order.