Arguing that existing ideas about balance of power and power transition are inadequate, this book gives an innovative reinterpretation of the changing nature of U.S. power, focused on the 'order transition' in East Asia. A pre-eminent regional specialist here provides a highly innovative international society account of the order transition underway in East Asia. Goh's sophisticated ideational framework, developed around a renegotiated social compact, compellingly displaces existing power transition models.