| The Post-American World | 
 enlarge | Author: Fareed Zakaria
Publisher: W. W. Norton
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  153 reviews
Sales Rank: 133
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.6 x 6.2 x 1.3
ISBN: 039306235X
Dewey Decimal Number: 303.49
EAN: 9780393062359
ASIN: 039306235X
Publication Date: May 5, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 The Post American World October 31, 2008
Reviewed ByStephen J. Hage SteveH9697@aol.com
In this book Fareed Zakaria paints crystalline images that reveal not only how the world is changing but also why.
For decades, after World War II, the United States enjoyed political, economic, ideological and social hegemony on a global scale. And, for the most part, even though a hegemon, it was viewed as benevolent.
Today, there is much talk and hand wringing about declining American prestige and power in most if not all of the areas mentioned above. Viewed through that particular lens, the situation is dire and spiraling quickly downward. Fareed Zakaria sees the situation differently. What he sees happening is "The Rise of the Rest." He makes his point by asking to consider this:
"Look around. The tallest building in the world is now in Taipei, and it will soon be overtaken by one being built in Dubai. The world's richest man is Mexican, and its largest publicly traded corporation is Chinese. The world's biggest plane is built in Russia and Ukraine, its leading refinery is under construction in India, and its largest factories are all in China. By many measures, London is becoming the leading financial center and the United Arab Emirates is home to the most richly endowed investment fund. Once quintessentially American icons have been appropriated by foreigners."
All this is from pages 2 and 3 of chapter 1. And while, in isolation, the quote appears blatantly alarmist rest assured that is not Zakaria's objective. He writes instead about American power and purpose by highlighting America's path, during the rise of the Western World, from the fifteenth century through the beginning of the twenty first; and he does this from the perspective of someone who emigrated here from India and became an American.
Zakaria's signal strength is his ability to write in a manner that mirrors what he sounds like when he speaks. Since I watch him regularly on his television series Fareed Zakaria GPS (Global Public Square), on CNN, as I read the book I constantly heard his voice in my mind. It was a pleasant experience. His formidable brilliance shines bright on every page and his thesis, instead of being alarmist is uplifting and inspirational. It's an easy read that deals with large and important issues.
This book is a MUST READ for anyone interested in what's happening in the world and in, not only how America fits but what it must do and why, as history proceeds apace.
 Vacuous and misguided October 31, 2008
4 out of 12 found this review helpful
Views like this book's depend on materialistic assumptions. If leadership and influence do not revolve around how much stuff you make and buy (the world as a big strip mall), it falls apart.
China, Brazil, Russia, India are one-trick ponies. Cheap labor or energy reserves. No one looks to them for leadership; they produce no ideas and inspire nothing but consumption and criminality (Russia). Their cultures are based on systematically defective understandings of reality, such as Confucianism, Buddhism, or Hinduism, that will profoundly limit them.
China will revolve around the same oriental despotism they have practiced for thousands of years. The mindset created by their cultural assumptions prevents them from offering anything meaningful to the world but cheap labor (for a time). China can only think about and take care of China.
The success of the west is based on a specific set of beliefs: that the world can be understood and is worth understanding (leading to science), that humans were made in the spiritual image of God, thus have intrinsic worth (human rights), but voluntarily corupted themselves (requiring representative, decentralized government).
Non-western countries do not have a culture that supports such beliefs. Thus they can lead only to human-centered responses; despotism, cronyism, organized crime with a veneer of jingling cash registers until it fails.
Problems in the west similarly stem from the decline in Christian culture among the ruling elite, now most advanced in Europe. Watch how long cash registers can keep a "post-American" world happy.
I have lots of Chinese junk I bought that seemed important and worthwhile at the time but is just sitting there, representing wasted effort on my part and those who made it.
Turning to the "noble savage" of the third world for insight is a reflection of an inner desolation and confusion due to losing the way from the reality of the path of Christ.
 Common Sense October 28, 2008
There are some good points made by Fareed about globalization, about American supremacy and the rise of the rest. I must say though that Fareed can put you to sleep with his endless monotone narrative. At times I really had to force myself to stay awake to listen to what he was saying.
The Post-American World October 27, 2008
In this book, Fareed Zakaria envisions an America not in decline but accommodating itself to the rise in economic and political power of the rest of the world, particularly China and India. He believes that America is not in danger of losing its importance in the world so long as it seeks to forge multilateral relationships with other rising powers. He believes America must choose its issues and then abide by established international treaties and agreements, must seek to think creatively and choose options other than military ones in addressing international problems, must try to operate asymmetrically, that is, recognize that it is one superpower among many emerging powers and must forge alliances as problems arise and not conduct itself hegemonically, that is, as the only force to be reckoned with economically and militarily. Zakaria spends time reassuring American readers that the American economy is not in fact in a period of decline but in a period of historically expected contraction, not unlike Britain's in the 20th century. He emphasizes America's ingenuity, its superior educational system, its attractiveness to immigrants seeking better lives for themselves and their families. He regards as its biggest strength America's openness to other people, cultures, and innovations, even while its government remains mired in unilateral political thinking. Throughout, the explanations and arguments are clear and easy to follow, even if many of the ideas give you pause. For instance, in describing China's or India's rise, he gives too little attention to the huge losses of life that these countries were/are willing to absorb in their quests for economic growth. He gives too little attention to the hardships people in this country face with job and housing losses and credit crises. He praises democracy but spends a lot of time describing how it doesn't work well in the new world (although he doesn't endorse totalitarian forms of government).
He makes the interesting point that, unlike America and Britain, China and India have no cultural tradition of proselytizing - their religions do not place this idea at their center and therefore they do not have the imperialistic need to convert the rest of the world to their way of life. Although I am not sure how true this is, since both countries continue to wage ongoing wars with former and current territories and religious and ethnic minorities, it is a useful insight allowing for a more open approach when engaged in diplomacy or negotiation with either power.
I was left thinking that something is missing though. The world seems to me to be in constant crisis and the reassuring tone of this book strikes me as false. I would be interested in a response to it, along the lines of The Shock Doctrine. Nevertheless I am glad for a book that is something other than a shrill denunciation of the new world order.
The Post American World October 13, 2008
The Post-American World
I got a great price and excellent service on the delivery of this book. Zakaria's book is very provocative, and challenges most of the assumptions we have inherited about America from our parents. He gives us a sypathetic look at America from a world that is moving beyond the cold war, in many places faster than we are.
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