Rubble: the world in 1945 -- Conflict: the postwar international system -- Spheres: the quest for influence, 1944-45 -- Abundance: the "fundamentals" of the United States -- Toughness: the tactics of Truman's diplomacy -- Consent: American public opinion and congress -- Suspiciousness: Soviet foreign policy and its makers -- Bipolarity: the world on 1950 -- Appendix: the events of 1944-50.