Contemporary World Politics

Contemporary World Politics (Class XII) is the foundational NCERT text on post-war international relations, tracing the bipolar order, its collapse, and the shifting balance of global power. These Class 12 Political Science NCERT notes for UPSC underpin much of the International Relations syllabus, making the book essential reading for both Prelims and Mains.

What the book covers, by theme:

• Bipolarity and its end: the Cold War era, superpower rivalry, and the disintegration of the Soviet bloc.
• Power and hegemony: US dominance in world politics and the rise of alternative centres of power.
• Regional and institutional order: contemporary South Asia and the role of international organisations.
• Emerging global challenges: security in the contemporary world, environment and natural resources, and globalisation with its critics.

For UPSC, this book directly feeds GS Paper II (International Relations) and supplies analytical frames valuable across Prelims and Mains essay writing.