Barack Obama arrived in Bozeman, Mont., for a campaign rally in May 2008 carrying the book “The Post-American World" by Fareed Zakaria’s.
Book Description: "This is not a book about the decline of America, but rather about the rise of everyone else." So begins Fareed Zakaria's important new work on the era we are now entering. Following on the success of his best-selling The Future of Freedom, Zakaria describes with equal prescience a world in which the United States will no longer dominate the global economy, orchestrate geopolitics, or overwhelm cultures. He sees the "rise of the rest"—the growth of countries like China, India, Brazil, Russia, and many others—as the great story of our time, and one that will reshape the world. The tallest buildings, biggest dams, largest-selling movies, and most advanced cell phones are all being built outside the United States. This economic growth is producing political confidence, national pride, and potentially international problems. How should the United States understand and thrive in this rapidly changing international climate? What does it mean to live in a truly global era? Zakaria answers these questions with his customary lucidity, insight, and imagination.
From Publishers Weekly: Starred Review. When a book proclaims that it is not about the decline of America but the rise of everyone else, readers might expect another diatribe about our dismal post-9/11 world. They are in for a pleasant surprise as Newsweek editor and popular pundit Zakaria (The Future of Freedom) delivers a stimulating, largely optimistic forecast of where the 21st century is heading. We are living in a peaceful era, he maintains; world violence peaked around 1990 and has plummeted to a record low. Burgeoning prosperity has spread to the developing world, raising standards of living in Brazil, India, China and Indonesia. Twenty years ago China discarded Soviet economics but not its politics, leading to a wildly effective, top-down, scorched-earth boom. Its political antithesis, India, also prospers while remaining a chaotic, inefficient democracy, as Indian elected officials are (generally) loathe to use the brutally efficient tactics that are the staple of Chinese governance. Paradoxically, India's greatest asset is its relative stability in the region; its officials take an unruly population for granted, while dissent produces paranoia in Chinese leaders. Zakaria predicts that despite its record of recent blunders at home and abroad, America will stay strong, buoyed by a stellar educational system and the influx of young immigrants, who give the U.S. a more youthful demographic than Europe and much of Asia whose workers support an increasing population of unproductive elderly. A lucid, thought-provoking appraisal of world affairs, this book will engage readers on both sides of the political spectrum.
Amazon Reviews: I bought this book as I had received an e-mail showing President Obama with a copy in his hand. It appeared to be factual. His basic premise is that the rest of the world is catching up to America. I disagreed with his premise that illegal immigration and Islam are not problems we need to face. My premise is that they are serious problems and further that America is losing its place in the world because of policies enacted by our Federal Government. The innovation and determination of our people is recognized by the author as our strength. I agree wholeheartedly. They cannot suceed however with a government beholden to the mega corporations creating unfair competition with other nations, in particular China and India.
Amazon Review 2: This product is about economics, plain and simple. It is not about a Muslim takeover of the world, which was my initial concern, and why I felt a need to actually read the book 'being read by Obama after departing Air Force One.' It is a book he should be reading. The author has much insight regarding global economics after this present U.S. economic decline triggered by a number of really bad government decisions beginning with the Carter Administration and continuing through the present. Yes, I believe America is in real and enduring economic decline, and that there is a global economy different from today and yesterday we are going to be forced to face. This book helps prepare the way.
Book Description:
"This is not a book about the decline of America, but rather about the rise of everyone else." So begins Fareed Zakaria's important new work on the era we are now entering. Following on the success of his best-selling The Future of Freedom, Zakaria describes with equal prescience a world in which the United States will no longer dominate the global economy, orchestrate geopolitics, or overwhelm cultures. He sees the "rise of the rest"—the growth of countries like China, India, Brazil, Russia, and many others—as the great story of our time, and one that will reshape the world. The tallest buildings, biggest dams, largest-selling movies, and most advanced cell phones are all being built outside the United States. This economic growth is producing political confidence, national pride, and potentially international problems. How should the United States understand and thrive in this rapidly changing international climate? What does it mean to live in a truly global era? Zakaria answers these questions with his customary lucidity, insight, and imagination.
From Publishers Weekly:
Starred Review. When a book proclaims that it is not about the decline of America but the rise of everyone else, readers might expect another diatribe about our dismal post-9/11 world. They are in for a pleasant surprise as Newsweek editor and popular pundit Zakaria (The Future of Freedom) delivers a stimulating, largely optimistic forecast of where the 21st century is heading. We are living in a peaceful era, he maintains; world violence peaked around 1990 and has plummeted to a record low. Burgeoning prosperity has spread to the developing world, raising standards of living in Brazil, India, China and Indonesia. Twenty years ago China discarded Soviet economics but not its politics, leading to a wildly effective, top-down, scorched-earth boom. Its political antithesis, India, also prospers while remaining a chaotic, inefficient democracy, as Indian elected officials are (generally) loathe to use the brutally efficient tactics that are the staple of Chinese governance. Paradoxically, India's greatest asset is its relative stability in the region; its officials take an unruly population for granted, while dissent produces paranoia in Chinese leaders. Zakaria predicts that despite its record of recent blunders at home and abroad, America will stay strong, buoyed by a stellar educational system and the influx of young immigrants, who give the U.S. a more youthful demographic than Europe and much of Asia whose workers support an increasing population of unproductive elderly. A lucid, thought-provoking appraisal of world affairs, this book will engage readers on both sides of the political spectrum.
Amazon Reviews:
I bought this book as I had received an e-mail showing President Obama with a copy in his hand. It appeared to be factual. His basic premise is that the rest of the world is catching up to America. I disagreed with his premise that illegal immigration and Islam are not problems we need to face. My premise is that they are serious problems and further that America is losing its place in the world because of policies enacted by our Federal Government. The innovation and determination of our people is recognized by the author as our strength. I agree wholeheartedly. They cannot suceed however with a government beholden to the mega corporations creating unfair competition with other nations, in particular China and India.
Amazon Review 2:
This product is about economics, plain and simple. It is not about a Muslim takeover of the world, which was my initial concern, and why I felt a need to actually read the book 'being read by Obama after departing Air Force One.' It is a book he should be reading. The author has much insight regarding global economics after this present U.S. economic decline triggered by a number of really bad government decisions beginning with the Carter Administration and continuing through the present. Yes, I believe America is in real and enduring economic decline, and that there is a global economy different from today and yesterday we are going to be forced to face. This book helps prepare the way.
More Amazon Reviews here:
http://www.amazon.com/Post-American-World-Fareed-Zakaria/product-reviews/0393334....