This book, first published in 1982, analyses the miscalculations about the military power of foreign countries which have been made in the past and the difficulties which have to be overcome today before we can reach a correct estimate of the power of other states.

Part 1. Russia and the Soviet Union 1. British Views of Russia: Russian Views of Britain C.D. Bellamy 2. Estimating Soviet Military Expenditure R. Huisken 3. Western Assessment of Soviet Strength G. Jukes Part 2. The Power of the New States 4. British Estimates of Japanese Military Power, 1900-14 P.A. Towle 5. Australian Estimates of the Japanese Threat, 1905-41 D.M. Horner 6. Perception of Naval Power Between the Wars: the British Case G. Till 7. Nine Examples from Recent Indian Experience, 1962-80 R. Rikhye 8. Assessing the Arab-Israeli Military Balance K.R. Singh Part 3. 9. The Forgotten Dimensions of Strategy M.E. Howard