The Second World: Empires and Influence in the New Global Order

This book is a global tour of a dizzying number of nations that is supposed to illustrate Khanna's assertion that there are three "empires" in today's world, China, the European Union and the U.S. This is an interesting and readbale book but I would have preferred a fuller exposition of Khanna's thesis illustrated by a few in-depth examinations of say, 5-7 countries. His attempt to name them all leads to a kind of superficial expertise, as when he talks about the way Islamic extremists are taking over 'pesantren', Islamic schools like madrasah, but the asserts that the two largest Muslim organizations in the world are Indonesian and offer some hope of a counter to the extremists. Of the two, Nahdatul Ulama is composed of Islamic show more teachers, including and largely led by the heads of 'pesantren' and the other, Muhammadiyah, grew out of the same roots in the writings of certain Egyptian Muslim intellectuals as most of the jihadists. Those facts are most relevant and worthy of further treatment than the mere mention Khanna gives the two organizations. show less

If you're interested in International Relations, and you're fed-up with the classic powergame-analysis, this is your book. Khanna has produced a book that is breathtaking in its scope: he covers almost the whole world (with the very sad exception of subsaharan Africa), some 30 countries are screened, pointedly, most of them within 2-3 pages. The overall picture: the American empire is in decline, Europe is a very good alternative, but China will certainly rule the waves, by 2050. Khanna's great novelty is that he's the first to take globalism really serious. Stimulating reading, although I do not fully agree with his too contemptive analysis of US politics and society.

This book is a geopolitical romp through South America, eastern Europe, most of Asia, and some of Oceania. It is glib, interesting and thoughtful in parts, but largely appears to be a sustained effort to "take the piss" out of the United States. If you detest the US and George W. Bush, you'll love this book. If you are more nuanced, you will find the book an interesting but not great read. In summary, US bad, China good. Hmmmm.

Opera interessante, tuttavia datata. Dalla pubblicazione del libro ad oggi gli avvenimenti internazionali che si sono succeduti hanno stravolto completamente il quadro geopolitico analizato da Khanna. Non consiglio di leggerlo.

good book, insights into EU, China, why it is so super power as view by others, how their manufacturing power is influencing the world economy. the former Soviet republics. the various stans of central asia. the end of monroe doctrine and the changing focus of latin america. the railroad and tibet. china and its satellites in asia. the author is from central asia but educated in england and US. he has a very different view of the world than what i thought the world was. such an eye opener