Hunger, disease, poverty, environmental insecurity, illegitimate governance, civil war, and international conflict are only a few of the causes of today's global turmoil and gross human suffering. Written in honour of Ivan Head, foreign affairs advisor to former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, past president of Canada's International Development Research Centre, and professor emeritus of International law at the University of British Columbia, this collection of distinguished essays addresses the imperative to enhance human dignity and protect human life by humanizing our global order and improving international relations - goals Professor Head strove for throughout his career.

The authors argue that the search for possible solutions to these challenges, which has so far tended to proceed without due recognition of the needs, demands, and solutions that emanate from the geo-political South, must in future be conducted with alternate visions that take these factors into account. Each essay seeks to re-assess and re-imagine a specific topic that relates in some significant way to our current global circumstance in ways that advance the book's thematic. With essays grappling with such issues as Multilateral Environmental Agreements, the Use of Force, the Prevention of Civil War through Minority Protection, Common Heritage of Humankind, and the Civil Dimensions of Strategy, the volume deals with a range of diverse topics that are as crucial as they are topical.