In the decades between the World Wars, the global power structure was transformed. The once great European powers were no longer ascendant, even if they had not yet acknowledged it, and the U.S., a regional power as of 1914, now belonged to a new category: "superpower." What happened in this short period to usher in such a dramatic change? The Ebbing of European Ascendancy explores the crucial factors, including the international history of the period in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, as single interlocking whole to clearly examine one of the most dramatic, worldwide power shifts in the last century.