Responsible for the collapse of empires ranging from the Ottoman to the Soviet, self-determination has been one of the key factors in the history of the entire twentieth century. Surprisingly, scholars have been slow to appreciate the value of ethnicity as a way of understanding the keypolitical developments of our times. In this challenging new book, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan draws on a rich and diverse fund of historical and contemporary examples to trace the history and illustrate the considerable predictive powers of ethnic studies. In particular, he shows how ethnicity confounded Marx's hopes for aninternational proletariat and reveals how an inability to grasp the importance of ethnic diversity left the West unprepared for the disintegration of the Communist bloc.About the author: Daniel Patrick Moynihan has been been the senior US Senator from New York since 1976 and is the only man in American history to have served in the cabinet or sub-cabinet of four successive presidents. He is also a highly distinguished academic, having taught at Harvard, Yale,Columbia, Syracuse, Cornell, and New York Universities and been lauded with an astonishing 55 honorary degrees.

Daniel Patrick Moynihan is the senior Senator from New York. A former professor of government at Harvard University, he has served as Ambassador to India and to the United Nations, where he represented the United States as President of the Security Council.