The Post-American World Reviews

• Where We Are Today and Where We Go From Here

  
  By A3O6SNAN3CXJDP on 2008-04-29
  Mr. Zakaria has written a short primer (250+ pages of text) about where the world is today and the role he sees the United States playing in the future. His assessment, for the most part, is fair, balanced and nonpartisan. And though the title of his treatise--The Post-American World--sounds pessimistic, in reality Mr. Zakaria sees the glass half full.
  
  The principal weakness of the book is a product of its brevity: the author paints in broad strokes, providing a sweeping assessment of the dynamic changes that have unfolded on the world scene over the past twenty-five years. This invariably results in some over-generalizations and assessments that are not sufficiently nuanced. For example, in responding to concerns about China's growing power and influence, he quotes several Chinese officials who repeatedly reassure the listener that, notwithstanding its recent advances, China still lags behind the United States in so many areas; consequently, it poses no real threat to America or its neighbors. Instead of taking these sentiments at face value, Mr. Zakaria should remember, as Margaret Macmillan astutely noted in her recent book, "Nixon and Mao: The Week That Changed the World," that the Chinese are the past masters at using self-effacement to lure their adversaries into a state of complacency.
  
  The greatest strengths of the book are explaining to the reader how much the world has changed over the past 25 years (did you know that China now exports more goods and services in a single day than it did in all of 1978?), while illuminating the course corrections the United States needs to make so that it can continue to influence the evolution of globalization. I was surprised to discover that the simple truths taught by Adam Smith have lifted more people above the poverty line in the last 25 years (400 million in China alone) than all the government assistance programs of all the countries in the world since the beginning of time. But I was dismayed to learn that the polices of free trade, liberal immigration, technological change and open government that are the source of this global revolution are no longer warmly received in the United States. Mr. Zakaria notes that in 2007 the Pew Global Attitudes Survey polled citizens in 47 countries for purposes of measuring the extent to which they have positive views about free trade and open markets. Guess where the U.S. came in? Dead last. Mr. Zakaria observes that in the five years the survey has been done, no country has seen as great a drop-off as the United States. It's as if, he says, that for the past sixty years we have extolled the virtues of free markets, immigration, technological change, competition, and democracy, and now that the rest of the world has finally decided to take our advice, "we are becoming suspicious of the very things we have long celebrated." (p. 48).
  
  If you want to look in the mirror and see the warts and disappointments, along with the beauty and promise, of America, read this book. You and our country will be better for it.
  
  

• Even better than his last book

  
  By A3JKLJMQIC3NF8 on 2008-04-30
  A lot of books have been appearing recently about the rise of China and India, the decline of the United States, and so forth. This is the one to read, and the one that will last.
  
  Zakaria's last book was about "The Future of Freedom," a study of liberalism and democracy. This new one--which is even better, I think--is about the shape of the emerging international system. It's called "The Post-American World," but a better title would have been the one he gives his first chapter, "The Rise of the Rest." That's because Zakaria's central thesis is that the world is changing, but the change is largely for the better and caused by the benign development of other power centers, not some collapse or decline of the United States. The biggest challenge for America, he argues, is not terrorism or nuclear proliferation or a rising China, but rather our own ability to adapt successfully to the new environment. He favors confidence and openness rather than insecurity and barriers, and makes a convincing case.
  
  The book has chapters on each of the major international players, and they're really well done: amazingly, he manages to paint a full portrait of, say, China or India that is intelligent, succinct, subtle, and comprehensive all at once. If you want to get a flavor of what the book has to offer, there's an article based on it in the new issue of Foreign Affairs, and there should be another one coming out in Newsweek too, apparently. The man might be a superachieving bigshot, but he sure can write--each page is lively and interesting.
  
  So forget the angry neocons, the wild-eyed optimists, the gloom-and-doom pessimists, and the glib amateurs who don't really know anything. Read this instead, and get insight into what's actually going in the world and what should be done about it. Plus, there's just a ton of fun little nuggets you'll be itching to drop in every conversation you have about anything related.
  
  
  

• Friedman with a hint of Huntington

  
  By A23CKBJNKDQ26G on 2008-05-08
  Zakaria is a great writer whose produced a highly readable book. Its impossible to go through the pages without feeling a great surge of hope for what the future isabout to bring, courtesy the miracle of free markets. Liberally annotated with anecdotes.
  
  The problem is that at the heart of it, this is just more of the Thomas Friedman "Lexus and Olive Tree" rising-tide-lifts-all-boats theory with the same prescriptions so beloved by bipartisan Washington since 1988: more trade, more immigration, more outsourcing.
  
  Zakaria's picture omits big pieces of the puzzle: devastated rural America, the loss of those jobs with nothing to replace them: what IS the unemployed American worker supposed to train for? And just who is going to buy all the products that corporations are producing so cheaply in India in China?
  
  And what happens when those stellar immigrants (like Zakaria), or more likely, their children, become disaffected Americans and make up the "bitter" folks who live in ghettos - urban or rural - like dying Appalachian towns or the immigrant high rise projects of Bradford or Marseille?
  
  Zakaria does try to factor in nationalism, but ignores the human implications of people who are going to lose in his Brave New World. And ultimately, his prescriptions, however entertaining and promising, are ultimately just more of the NYT/WSJ op-ed page.
  
  
  

• GOOD WRITING & SUBJECT; VERY BAD ANALYSIS; TRUMPETS RISE OF REST 50 YEARS TOO EARLY

  
  By A155HW1W8ZZZ47 on 2008-05-18
  Fareed Zakaria rose to prominence on account of the terrible Sept 11 tragedies, he the rare Muslim journalist at the top levels of the American press. Through this book he seeks to broaden his claim to expertise, not merely as an analyst of the war on terrorism but as a seer in every sense. For that ambition alone, this book is fatally flawed. It attempts a subject so stupendous that even a lifelong expert like Paul Kennedy came up short with his 'Rise and Fall of Great Powers.' So Fareed surely does, especially since his commentary on the Iraq war was dead wrong to begin with and has only turned critical once the country became so. Yet the writing is fluid, flowing far better and faster than any writer other than Thomas Friedman.
  
  The book covers the rise of India, China, and the 'rest.' It never really focuses on other countries though, but gives a lot of hard evidence of how and why the world has speeded up its growth and how and why the US is falling behind. Not because Americans are doing something wrong but because the rest of the world is doing so much right.
  
  The book is well written and likely to be popular and in all probability will end up on college curriculums, much like Thomas Friedman and Howard Zinn and Niall Ferguson have. Yet it is flawed to the point of being dangerous and is so for the following reasons.
  
  1. It stands to teach political economy to millions of people who shall never take a class in political economy. So they would never realize that the author lacks the big picture thinking which the great historians and political economists usually have. Fatally, he compares the 'Rise of the Rest' with the 'rise of the United States' and the 'rise of the Western World.' There is a problem here. The US rose upon a stunning technological revolution which it itself produced, at home, starting with the telegraph, telephone, airplane, the radio, the TV and the Internet. Neither China nor India nor Egypt has ever produced any substantial technology except body shopping. Some have cited about how mathematics was invented in India but so was much invented in Rome. There is no reason to go back thousands of years to prove a country's genius. All that matters is what they do today.
  
  To this date, there is no evidence that a power can rise without such innovative intrinsic achievements. AND IT MUST DO THAT ON ITS OWN AT HOME. In that sense then, China and India are more like Spain, building palaces out of the gold of the New World, and headed to become like Japan, rich and capable but rarely a leader in any domain. That is a lesson of political economy Fareed Zakaria should have read before embarking on this book.
  
  2. Fareed Zakaria obviously reads vigorously and cuts newspaper articles voraciously. That is obvious in his sources and anecdotes. But those are really clumsy ways to attempt a subject so significant as the rise and fall of nations. Here may I recommend Paul Kennedy's Rise and Fall of Great Empires for the historical perspective and if one must know about the Rise of the Rest then all the books on 'Chindia,' any one of which is better than this one. Those books focus on what the ground reality is, which is impressive, without jumping to strategic insights which are off the mark.
  
  3. The author lacks perspective. Yes China's Macao is bigger than America's Las Vegas, but who but the poor of the world ever go to Macao. Yes India has the world's largest refinery, but the machinery and technology is all bought from the West. Yes Dubai is building the world's tallest building, but who cares, Silicon Valley has no building taller than 20 stories! Yes Singapore has the largest Ferris Wheel, but they are copying American culture. Yes a Mexican is the world's richest man but his cell phone empire has never produced a half way decent cell phone or transmission technology. Yes India has more billionaire's than any country outside the US, and no Fareed, you have it wrong, few if any are self made. I read it in Forbes. A large number of Chinese successes are kids of communist party officials and a large number of Indian successes are kids of very corrupt families, which have had a history of intellectual property theft and bribing governments.
  
  In sum thus, both for its historical misjudgments and its static economic analysis, Fareed's book should be avoided. Centralized systems like China and India, which have a strong culture of corruption, and which are growing fast only because they are just getting around to provide food and water to their people, can never take command. That is not to say that the Rest can never rise, but they must innovate and develop and build something of their own before doing so. VS Naipaul the Nobel Prize Winner, and who is ethically Indian, has just released a book that there is no domestic intellectual artistic community in India, and he did not mean how many movies are being produced in India, or books written, but the lack of independent creative production.
  
  In sum, what Fareed Zakaria's book does is to add fuel to a fire that should have been put out long ago. Simply because the stock market is silly enough to value America's Dupont less than India's Reliance, or Mexican cell phone companies more than American ones, or value Bombay more valuable than New York City, is no reason to believe that is the reality for the next fifty years. And if the argument is that in a hundred years they would overtake the US, then again the reader has no reason to read this book for the next fifty years.
  
  

• The Return to a Multipolar World

  
  By A3H86VWLHHG96C on 2008-05-15
  Fareed Zakaria writes that three great global power shifts have occurred in the last 500 years: the first was the rise of the West with its advances in science, technology, and commerce; the second was the rise of the US, to superpower status after World War II and to hyperpower status after the Cold War; and the third - the one we are currently experiencing - is the "rise of the rest." The global dominance that the US has enjoyed is rapidly coming to an end, not because of its own missteps - there were many - but because of the extraordinary economic growth in countries such as China, India, Russia, and Brazil. Except for a few pockets of poverty, globalization has been largely successful.
  
  The Post-American World points to the need for America to adopt new ways of doing business with the world, one that is based on "consultation, cooperation, and even compromise" as opposed to go-it-alone unilateralism. American success in the 21st century will depend on how these newly ascendant powers will be integrated into existing institutions such as the G8, the IMF, the World Bank, and the WTO. Even though some of these countries do not meet Western liberal democratic standards they should not be shut out as Robert Kagan suggested in The Return of History and the End of Dreams.
  
  Integrating autocracies such as China, Russia, and the Central Asian republics in the international liberal order will be one of the greatest challenges in international relations in the years ahead. After all, autocracies have been very successful, producing 7-10% annual growth rates. They produce great investment opportunities for foreigners. And their foreign policy of non-interference with the sovereignty of other countries has made them welcome almost everywhere. This purely pragmatic approach, although successful in economics, has many shortcomings in the political realm. Zakaria believes that although they have been successful and even popular, it is important for Western democracies to have solidarity to prevent further backsliding.
  
  Economic growth is only one of the components that keep autocracies in power, another is nationalism. One need only look at the popularity of Putin when he defies the West or China's reaction everytime they feel slighted by foreigners. Nationalism will rise as economic fortunes rise. Zakaria, who is always reasonable and optimistic in his views, believes that nations will be reasonable too. He believes that the newly ascendant powers will not be aggressive militarily if they are embedded in the current system. China, for example, does not need to invade neighboring countries when it can buy whatever it needs. For the time being this is working, but what happens "the rest" become much more powerful and resources become even more scarce? Will the the international order hold or will nationalist impulses rule the day? Zakaria is optimistic, but he still believes that the US will have an indispensible roll in keeping this system in place.
  
  
  
• Good..BUT..........................................................
  By A4IUF85N3SVKG on 2008-05-02
  Zakaria has written a nice book, based upon his somewhat limited perspective. For this oversight, I cannot rate the book higher than 4 stars. While he did provide some interesting insights, he failed to give a full picture of the forces in motion that will most certainly continue to destroy America as we know it.
  
  Zakaria sees globalization as a huge improvement for all people throughout the globe. In this regard, it appears that he is thinking more of the people of Shri Lanka or Haiti, rather than more developed nations. Certainly, those in impoverished nations stand to benefit from this globalization trend. They have little to lose. But for much of the developed world such as America, Canada, Europe, Japan, and the UK, this trend promises to strengthen the 2-class trends we see today.
  
  As globalization strengthens, so will the momentum towards one world government, as seen in Orwell's 1984. This has already happened with the formation of the European Union. Forcing EU laws upon all participant nations is causing many societal and economic problems. In the USA, we are seeing the early stages of plans for the North American Union.
  
  Can you not see how corporations have seized America? Can you not see how they control life and death? Look at gas prices, look at food prices. Understand that corporatization is a strategy that is consistent with globalization. Mega-corporations are partners with their respective national governing bodies.
  
  While globalization might make goods and services more efficient, it will also operate under one power. You wont have a choice to leave if you don't like how you are being governed because every nation will be run the same way. Without individuality and freedom, we all become slaves who will answer to the government.
  
  Preserving each nation's sovereignty is vital. Combining the world into one economic, political, and judicial system will be disastrous and it will surely enslave everyone but the wealthy elite.
  
  In conclusion, as a stand alone the book is a nice read and offers a very optimistic look at the effects of globalization. But what it lacks is a full perspective. I would highly recommend as companions to this book, the following:
  
  This no non-sense, data-backed look at America has already successfully predicted the current economic turmoil, with more to come
  America's Financial Apocalypse: How to Profit from the Next Great Depression (Condensed Edition)
  
  Hard-hitting, straight-mouthed views from a man who isn't that stupid afterall (despite being a former wrestler)
  Don't Start the Revolution Without Me!
  
  All About the forces behind the New World Order, otherwise known as globalization
  The True Story of the Bilderberg Group
  
  If you read these books along with Zakaria's, you will have a full perspective to determine whether the benefits of globalization are worth the risks.
  
  
  
• Are you kidding?
  By A1OYIG2XRED9YE on 2008-05-15
  Too much beating around the bush to finally arrive at Mr. Fareed Zakaria's central point: India, China and the rest - rising powers; United States not any longer. No great surprise, the author happens to be an Indian, explaining his unquestionable objectivity.
  
  Consider the following: United States no longer has the tallest building, the longest bridge, and the biggest dam. I forgot to mention that only one of America's shopping malls even made the top ten of the world's largest shopping malls. That's some "hard" evidence pointing to the decline of America in increasingly global world. And yes, Bollywood - the entertainment power house that helps Indians develop a new sense of national pride. Are you kidding me?! It's a very, very sad story!
  
  
  
• Whither Go American Dreams?
  By A3RFXU3P0XKKF4 on 2008-05-16
  Fareed Zakaria, a brilliant journalist, maybe the last honest one left of a very sorry lot, has found a way to maneuver around America's immense but infinitely fragile egg-shell like ego to tell us indirectly what we already know about ourselves but don't want to hear: that our nation, the American Empire, is in a precipitous decline, due mostly of our making.
  
  Sadly, for the author, this is work that must be left unsaid and insinuated from deep within the subtext of the book, unsaid and insinuated in "metaphorical relief." As he puts it, it is not "the "fall of America, but the rise of the rest."
  
  Anyone who takes that backhanded insult at face value, then I have a bridge in Brooklyn I want to sell you? This demeaning backhanded way of telling us that our country is in very serious decline sounds like the kind of reverse psychology one uses on a young child who will not eat his vegetables. But it is the only way to get any kind of self-criticism down the ultra-sensitive American palate. Its the same maneuver that Denish d' Souza, one of the darling of the rightwing, used so deftly in his equally insulting "What's so Good About America?" Again, under the pretext of praising America, he too had to tuck the truth in between the lines amid so much insincere "pro-American groveling."
  
  And why not? Somehow, no matter how untrue or how superficial, we tend to eat fawning compliments like they are breakfast cereal. But any criticism is un-patriotic and un-American. Fareed is no ones fool.
  
  As brilliant as he is, the author has never been allowed to tell the full truth, even on the weekend news pundit shows. The inferior minds among his colleagues just keep censoring him into non-existence. I notice that even though he is clearly the most brilliant in our generation of journalists, his appearances are becoming less and less frequent. I wonder why?
  
  This is not a "Zakaria problem," but an "American problem." And to paraphrase Jack Nicholson in one of the most famous lines in all movie-dome: "Americans can't handle the truth!" Fareed, to repeat another of my favorite clichés from the movie Munich, is just "the voice in our heads telling us what we already know: That while America has led the world into the 21st Century it has suddenly and abruptly made a u-turn ducking its head back into the sands of its own dark ages. Beating its breast with all kinds of new weapons but scared to come out of its hole: [The world is going off and leaving us in the dust: Is this really the way we want to go down? Has anyone seen Kuala Lumpur, or Dubai, or even Singapore or Seoul lately? They all make America cities look like something from the Middle Ages.]
  
  The evidence of our decline is everywhere: (1) In the 21st Century, we are still fighting the Scopes trial, and are losing? Intelligent Design is slowly gaining an undeserved prominence on par with the Science of Evolution. Four of the Republican candidates admitted in the Presidential debates on international television that they do not believe in evolution. (2) Like the most famous modern day Neanderthal we love to hate, Saudi born, Osama bin Laden, we too love our guns, god, and hate gays, and just for good measure, also throw racism into that mix. (3) The very fact that GW Bush was elected for two terms should have been a strong enough hint that something is terribly wrong with the "last standing superpower." Even if we were trying to, we could not have picked a worse representative of the best America has to offer. (4) But worse of all, America has become a "fair weather democracy." It no longer completely believes in it founding ideas and ideals. It only believes in them when they benefit certain protected American subgroups, otherwise, all bets are off. To wit, we will cheat to win elections; torture prisoners and throw away due process; neglect our own poor; turn the clock back on hard won civil rights; and sell out not just our democracy, but all of our seed corn too -- our future -- to the highest bidder. Our politicians have become whores for the moneyed interests.
  
  If we were half the nation we tell ourselves we are, then Fareed Zakaria would not have had to "dumb-down" this book and write in reverse psychological diplomatic code to tell us what we already know.
  
  Fifty stars.
  
  
• America Must Realize the World is Catching Up
  By A1EQGFZPJ4V24X on 2008-05-09
  One of the biggest problems we have as Americans is the inability to realize that many of our former industries are now the equivalent of blacksmiths --- they are becoming overshadowed by new technologies and inventions from other countries. This isn't bad if we allow new ways of doing things to dominate our economic life but instead we attempt to save the old at the expense of the new.
  
  This book is a great read.
  
  
• Just a provocative title to sell the book
  By AR1T36GLLAFFX on 2008-05-24
  People have been writing the obituary for America for decades. This book is no different. As others have written, this is an uneven book. Partisanship is a hallmark of democracies. Dictatorships can move more uniformly, but who wants to live in China or Pakistan?
  
  By electing officials who will not meddle in the free-market economy of the US, we can assure ourselves that America can compete. This will be a difficult challenge, but Mr. Zakaria believes it is impossible. I don't believe that it is.
  
  This is (another) book written solely to enrich the author by scaring the American public. If you must read it, check it out at the library. Don't waste your money.
  
  
• Interesting, but Overly Optimistic!
  By A22RY8N8CNDF3A on 2008-05-09
  Zakaria quickly grabs readers' attention by pointing out that the tallest building, largest publicly traded corporation, biggest planes under construction, leading refinery, largest factories, most richly endowed investment fund, largest casino, largest Ferris wheel, movie industry, and shopping mall are no longer American.
  
  He also provides useful perspective with which to view Islamic terrorists - Islam is fractured into numerous groups with a mostly local focus, and nowhere near the scale of impact reached by Stalin, Mao, and Hitler. Meanwhile, killing civilians has sharply reduced support for Al Qaeda. Further, Muslims constitute only 3% of Europe's population and will probably plateau at 5-8%. Finally, statistics on terrorism attacks include those killed in Iraq; excluding those, terrorism activity is markedly down, as well as Islamic support for such.
  
  What has brought the "rise of the rest?" Zakaria identifies the fall of the U.S.S.R. and its centralized economy, control of hyperinflation (largely thanks to cheap alternatives in India and China), and new technology (cell phones, large ships, the Internet). Goldman, Sachs predicts that China, India, Brazil, Russia, and Mexico will outproduce the Western G-7 by 2040.
  
  Zakaria then goes on with an overview of China and India, and then on to the U.S., where he grossly oversimplifies the impact of globalization. He finds comfort for the U.S. by pointing out that most profits come from development, finance, and marketing - not manufacturing. Unfortunately, the Chinese and others are well aware of this and can be expected to make significant inroads in these areas. Nanotech is envisioned as a future major source of strength for our economy - yet, he fails to also envision China, etc., moving into these areas, or wonder how many people a U.S. nanotechnology field could absorb (not that many).
  
  Another contribution is Zakaria's pointing out that statistics comparing the number of Asian and American engineering graduates are grossly misleading. A large proportion of the Asian graduates are from technical schools (eg. mechanics), and the education of the rest does not hold up to those from good American schools. Again, however, Zakaria is too optimistic about how long it will take Asia to correct this. As for our disappointing comparative high-school test scores, Zakaria alleges these are due to poor minority results; other writers, however, challenge this conclusion with data.
  
  Finally, Zakaria identifies America's failure to fund health care through government sources as another significant problem, and our dysfunctional political system as another major concern.
  
  My major concern is that Zakaria does not address the most important long-term implication of globalization for the U.S. - a severe decline in our standard of living.
  
  
• Snake Oil
  By APFZ5NL7CYRV1 on 2008-05-22
  The author's pre-war analysis was awfully wrong and so is the new forecast in his book. Making subjective predictions about the future in a truly unpredictable world is nothing but hot air bubbling through snake oil
  
  
• Nonsense
  By AZNDY7Z5DOWGC on 2008-05-27
  In writing as if American decline were a fait accompli, Zakaria engages more in wishful thinking than in principled analysis (of which he, ever eager for acclaim and influence, seems constitutionally incapable). So long as men exist who cherish freedom and individual rights and will defend them unto death, America will always lead the world, morally and politically, if not economically. What was true in 1776 holds true today: America, founded on the rights of a sovereign people to pursue their own happiness apart from State or Religion, is the last, best hope of earth. If Zakaria had a deeper respect for his adopted homeland, he would stop being the crusader boy for national self-deprecation and attempt a genuine contribution to political thought. Alas, from this Harvard Ph.D. we get only a hash of warmed-over Newsweek magazine articles.
  
  
• Critical reading for Americans
  By ATN1SSKTJD8Z8 on 2008-06-17
  This is the most insight-dense and clearly reasoned book I have read in quite some time. In it, Zakaria takes a step back and looks at where the world is today, how it got here and where it's going. Throughout that analysis, Zakaria makes one insightful and important comment after another. Americans who want a level-headed perspective on where globalization is taking the world and how the United States might fit into that scenario need look no further.
  
  Zakaria starts with a historical overview of how some countries shut themselves off from the rest of the world and how some embraced it. Unsurprisingly, embracing the rest of the world was almost universally the more successful approach for countries, their societies and economies. From there, Zakaria explains that the United States has spent many, many years telling other countries to free up their political policies and their economies and now that it is happening, we're not always comfortable with the results.
  
  Zakaria does a nice job providing perspective on the rise of China, India and the rest of the world and explains that even if the United States continues to grow its economy, it won't be as large as a percentage of the whole world as it has been. How positive or negative that turns out to be, Zakaria explains, is largely a matter of how we respond to the shifts taking place in the world.
  
  Zakaria tackles some tough topics like how America handles its power on the world stage and debunks some common myths such as the one that states the United States is generating far fewer engineers and scientists than other countries. I found myself constantly re-reading passages to try to lock insights into my mind or stopping my reading to think about something I'd just read. That's the sign of a really good book.
  
  Some reviews say the book is anti-American. I just don't agree. Zakaria takes an objective look at our country and points out plenty of good and not-so-good. For anyone or anything to improve, flaws need to be exposed, analyzed and improved. Zakaria comes across as a big fan of his adopted country who wants to see it excel in an environment that is bound to be very different from the one we've had for the last few decades. For Americans who want the same for themselves and their country, I really recommend reading this book.
  
  
• This books is more at macro level
  By A2TC37EUF14A3A on 2008-05-23
  The strongest objection I have about Zakaria's observations is this. The rest of the world emulating USA and its capitalist society doesn't necessarily mean it is all good. The rush to create wealth at the cost of millions of people, environment, social and human values is not a good scenario for the world. The scenario is that USA is exported blue collar jobs (manufacturing), now it is exporting white collar (service sector) jobs. Neither the government, nor the society leaders are thinking in terms of how these millions of people are going survive losing their livelihood? Sure, bio-technology, hi-tech, space industries will continue to be the leading industries of this country. Do we realize how much actual employment these industries are going to generate for a huge country like USA? We are automating as much as we can. We are sending away jobs. Sadly, the corporations are only interested in numbers and the govt. is interested in GDP. How about the millions of people? This is what the rest of the world is trying to emulate. Create wealth for a small segment of the population; increase GDP, defense budget, # of corporations, and highways. Not the real people. Because, for the govt. and corporations, when they look at macro level, individuals are like dots. They do not matter.
  
  
• Post America?
  By A2FIA6CMIF6VQT on 2008-05-23
  Really?
  No.
  The only land on earth with the energy to even touch American leadership is Brazil...
  And even they do not have a deep enough well of creativity to compare.
  America has been written off many, many times.
  Always a ploy, always wrong.
  America is the one and only leader and India, China, and Europe are never going to inspire others, or be a refuge to the world.
  
  
• Zakaria offers 'the gift of others' to see us . . . .
  By A3KHRGGS52HE8O on 2008-05-22
  Perhaps the most valued, but often unappreciated service anyone can offer is as Robbie Burns described in 1786, "Oh, wad some power the giftie gie us to see oursels as other see us!"
  
  Zakaria is that power, and this book is his gift to America.
  
  As a native of India, well schooled in the best of British education and values, he is an astute observer and commentator. From Alexis de Tocqueville to John Buchan (Lord Tweedsmuir) and Alistair Cooke, America is blessed by some exceptionally fine guests, observers and critics.
  
  However, as a native of India, he is handicapped by his society's limitations in assessing the basic strengths of America. This weakness is similar to that of India, China and Britain - - always emphasizing the logical command-and-control order of competent intelligence, instead of the understanding the free wheeling serendipity of chaos.
  
  The American genius is an ability to create order from chaos, and to tolerate chaos as the raw material of new ideas. It's the secret of Andrew Carnegie, just as it applies to Bill Gates, Sergey Brin and Jeff Bezos and many others from George Washington onward. When you understand the chaos and stubborn individualism from which America was created in 1776, you will understand the innovative aspect of America.
  
  Another basic quality of America is tolerance, a contrast to the India/Pakistan dispute which claimed more than half-a-million lives and created 10 million refugees after independence in 1947. Likewise, in South Africa now, "illegal immigrants' are hunted down and killed; in East Germany, an estimated 160 migrants have been killed since the Berlin Wall came down.
  
  In contrast, despite whining by right-wing xenophobes and the rants of talk-radio bozos, America absorbs immigrants like dry bread soaks up gravy. Both are better for it. Zakaria deals extensively with the benefits immigrants - - and he is one of those benefits, as this book richly proves - - but he ignores the nature of a society that embraces differences instead of seeking to kill them.
  
  India offers one image (correct or not) of the importance of cows; America offers a thousand images of cows, and tolerates them all. It's the nature of a democracy, which Zakaria disparages in 'The Future of Freedom'.
  
  It's these subtle differences which Zakaria overlooks; yet, these differences give America its world leadership role. It has nothing to do with guns and bombs or the blunders of President George Bush; the world always knows the date an inept (or brilliant) U.S. president will be out of office, a fact which few other countries can equal.
  
  Tocqueville and Cooke described the spirit of America; Zakaria dwells too much on materialism and the fact the rest of the world may catch up. In brief, it is like comparing Tata to Ford instead of Hinduism to the Puritans.
  
  As a final salute to democracy based on combined opinions (as of May 22) of others, the '4 star' rating is perfect.
  
  
  
  
• Summary with little Analysis and Insight
  By A3R1MVZWX3DMAG on 2008-06-02
  While I am a great fan of Fareed Zakaria as a journalist, his book reads like a summary of many of his articles. While the content is solid and deals with many important issues, such a broad issue as the future leads him to ramble about interesting, yet not always relevant issues.
  
  I mostly take issue not with this style nor content, but with the fact that the book is simply a summary of world events and brief commentary on changes. It has little original insight for anyone who's up to date on current affairs and it sorely lacks deep analysis.
  
  For someone who doesn't follow foreign or current affairs very closely, this book will be a valuable and accessible read. For serious readers, it is a waste of time.
  
  
• A Nice Conversation Starter
  By A2QZ7F8PBPYZ4E on 2008-05-20
  On the back cover of the book there is quote from author Walter Isaacson calling "The Post-American World" a "master piece of insight". The publisher describes the book as "prophetic insight". In reality, "The Post-American World" does not live up to such grandiose descriptions nor does it try to do so. This book is not ground breaking in its ideas or its analysis. The ideas expressed by Zakaria are familiar to anyone who reads the "Economist" or any number of books/publications that deal with economics and world affairs. In addition Zakaria's analysis is quite superficial, tackling complex issues in two or three paragraphs and often times using anecdotal evidence to support his arguments. This is not necessarily the result of flaws in Zakaria's ideas but rather comes from the fact that he has chosen to take on a broad and complex topic in just 272 pages. This book is essentially a well written, 272 page essay intended to be a conversation starter not the final word. If the reader is willing to accept it as such, then "The Post-American World" is an enjoyable and easy read that will hopefully spur lively debate about America's role in this new century.
  
  
• Better Than "My Pet Goat"
  By AUGJ84GPVM6T1 on 2008-07-10
  I am continually amazed at the fluff passed off as learning, or insight. To anyone who reads world affairs regularly, this book will prove a considerable disappointment. While the book contains some interesting observations, these tidbits are bulked up with facile prose and obvious statements. Use the money you'd spend buying this book to subscribe to Foreign Affairs. Read widely authoritative sources often available for free on the Internet. Do your own due dilligence.
  
  
• Read the article in Foreign Affairs, and skip the book.
  By A1NDR43EY5611P on 2008-06-24
  His conclusion is that the rest is rising relative to the US. Well, this has been happening more or less since WWII. So the whole argument is not original to start with.
  
  Similar to S. Huntington, he refers to "West" as Western Europe and the US. Such definition is flawed, and even S. Hutingon revised his to include southern regions in Latin America and Eastern European nations.
  
  His analysis of Asia has some merit, but some of his statements come accross as very naive. For instance at one point he mentions "Samba is booming in Latin America". What is that supposed to mean?
  
  Overall, it looks like Fareed the journalist has buried Fareed the scholar, at the cost of sounding superficial and naive. That makes it very hard to get to the end of the book.
  
  Having read his article on the same subject on Foreign Affairs, which I thought was very good, I was very dissapointed with this book.
  
  So I recommend read the article, and skip the book.
  
  
• Most balanced analysis on the subject yet
  By A2PEVP36Y5A2EQ on 2008-06-30
  This is the best book on the subject since The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. Zakaria's analysis is balanced and insightful unlike After the Empire: The Breakdown of the American Order (European Perspectives: A Series in Social Thought and Cultural Criticism).
  
  Zakaria benchmarks the U.S. outlook against England in the 19th century. England faded because of economic exhaustion as it became nearly bankrupt because of WWI when its debt reached 136% of GDP and interest payments amounted to 50% of its Budget. By 1945, the U.S. GDP was 10 times England. But, England extended its influence by facilitating the rise of the U.S.
  
  The U.S. situation is different because it is a leading economy. Since the 1880s, it has been the largest economy steadily accounting for 25% of World GDP. Over the past 25 years, U.S. GDP growth has averaged 3% vs only 2% for Western Europe. While defense spending broke England's back, it accounts for only 4.1% of U.S. GDP. The U.S. Current Account Deficit (CAD) at 7% of GDP is not a concern when coupled with low unemployment, high productivity, and a world savings glut. He mentions the Smiley curve where the U.S. leads in product innovation (the smile left side) and in branding (the smile right side) where profits are generated. China leads in low cost manufacturing (the bottom of the Smiley curve) where profits are slim. Long term forecasts rank the U.S. GDP per capita way ahead of others. The U.S. is a technology leader dominating nanotech, and biotech. It invests 2.6% of GDP in higher education vs only 1.2% for Europe and Japan. In any discipline, U.S. universities routinely account for 7 of the top 10 worldwide spots.
  
  Demography is another U.S strength. Europe is aging rapidly. This will increase its fiscal stress, shrink labor force, and slow economic growth. Many Asian countries are in the same situation. By 2010, Japan will have 3 million fewer workers than it did in 2005. But, the U.S. workforce will keep growing because it readily assimilates immigrants. The `Rise of the Rest' will mainly grab market share from Japan and Europe and not the U.S.
  
  The U.S. has many challenges. Globalization has increased international competition. The U.S. has now one of the highest corporate tax rates because everyone lowered theirs. Due to a more efficient regulatory infrastructure London has bypassed NY as the top financial center. Jobs are going to places with well-trained workers with efficient benefit costs. U.S business can save $6,000 in health care costs per worker by moving operations to Canada.
  
  The "rise of the rest" means mainly the rise of China and India. He dedicates chapter 4 to China (`The Challenger') and chapter 5 to India (`The Ally'). Those two economies are different. One is a top down government organized one (China). The other is a bottom up private sector driven one (India). The Chinese model creates superior infrastructure. India's model makes for superior capital allocation, and better managed companies.
  
  China's GDP has grown by 9% p.a. for three decades. It is the world's low cost producer and is the emerging second world power. Its challenges include rapid environmental degradation, misallocation of capital due to a corrupt banking system. Its per capita GDP is still only 1/25th the U.S.
  
  India has been the second fastest growing country, behind only China, growing at 8.5% during the 90s. But, its GDP per capita is only half China's. And 800 million Indians still live on only $2 a day. Its infrastructure is really poor. However, India's advantages include a thriving private sector with independent courts, and Rule of law. Also, unlike China it has a young population that will provide masses of able workers.
  
  But, the growth of both China and India will test environment sustainability. Over the next 6 years China and India will build 800 coal-fired power plants with CO2 emissions five times the total savings of the Kyoto accords.
  
  Zakaria thinks the U.S. dysfunctional Government represents the greatest threat to its economic supremacy. Policies should be implemented to boost savings, expand training in science, secure pensions, streamline immigration process, and improve energy efficiency. Yet, the entailed negotiated compromises between the parties appear impossible because of polarized politics.
  
  Zakaria envisions we are entering the "Post-American World." There has been three major power shifts in the past 500 years. The first one was the rise of the West in the fifteenth century that produced the Italian Renaissance, Enlightenment, scientific method, and the industrial revolution. The second one was the rise of the U.S. in the 19th century leading the world in economics, science, and influence. We are transiting to the third major shift into the "Post-American World" where many nations share power. Zakaria suggests that just as England did not resist the advent of the U.S. in the 19th century, the U.S. should do the same with China and India. This would entail reforming international institutions such as the IMF, G-8, and the UN Security Council. Those institutions should reflect the new world order. If the U.S. can facilitate this transition, its influence will last longer.
  
  He recommends the U.S. extricates itself out of the 8th century AD conflicts between Sunnis and Shiites and refocuses on China, India, and Brazil. The U.S. should develop good relations with all powers including Russia, and China. It should combat terrorism in non-military ways to avoid harming itself economically and politically by overreacting. The U.S. has to reestablish legitimacy. "It is one thing to scare your enemies; it's another to terrify the rest of the world" Today among European countries, up to 80% oppose U.S. foreign policy. For America to succeed amid the rise of the rest, it needs to remain an attractive place for immigrants.
  
  If you enjoy this book, I also recommend his very lucid The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad, Revised Edition
  
  
• Zakaria is a pragmatic realist
  By A3T7MV9C6LVYKO on 2008-05-12
  Zakaria begins by giving the reader a dose of reality- America is no longer the leader or innovator in many categories. There are better cell phones, taller buildings and larger casinos in other countries. It seems that America should restructure its policy in a world that is more level with us as opposed to from the pinnacle of technology and democracy.
  
  Zakaria believes that America should embrace its competition and globalization. he again points out that "majority rule" in other countries may be seen as a democratization on a superficial level, but is actually not always a suitable form of government for America's interests.
  
  This work is superbly written and deserves much attention as America chooses its next President.
  
  -Tahir Rahman, author of We Came in Peace for all Mankind: the untold story of the Apollo 11 silicon disc
  
  
  
  
• One World
  By A1JS76EQAHPHW4 on 2008-05-17
  An excellent book in predicting how the world will look like in 20-30 years. Globalization is the story of our age. Mr. Zakaria's background and world travel gave him an advantageous vintage point in assessing the world affairs and the trend for the next few decades.
  
  Average reader will greatly benefit from reading the book. For example, the rise of China and India will affect the world in a very fundamental way because of the combined population of 2.5 billion. Globalization is not a blessing for everyone, it is rather harmful for the standard of living for 80% of the people in the developed world. But it is important to realize that it is not possible to stop such a trend, just as it is not morally correct to deny the right to development for China and India. Chinese and Indians are equal humans as the people in the west, they are not sub humans, they have every right to pursue happiness in life, to get rich, to produce, to consume, to release CO2 just like all of us living in the west. Even though all this CO2 will accelerate climate change which is harmful for all, how can we ask the Chinese or Indian to maintain one fourth to one tenth the amount CO2 released per person as we Americans? Should they take bus while they can drive, should they not take warm bath while they can?
  
  If you are not happy with such a trend (rise of the rest), the most important thing that you can get from this book is the realization that it is inevitable. We must come to grips with the reality and try to make the best of it. The optimism he projects in his book is not the key point, he may not even really believe in it. Dislocations are wide spread in rural America and the small towns of America, he must know about it. But again, what can you do? Why should a worker in Oklahoma make 10 times the salary than the worker in Zhejiang, China while they both make 100 pairs of socks a day? They should be paid about the same - as long as the socks can be moved around, meaning "free trade".
  
  
  
  
  
  
• education...again
  By A3CB29AUWZVXC4 on 2008-07-03
  From the Publishers Weekly review: "America will stay strong, buoyed by a stellar educational system"...
  
  Really? "stellar"?
  
  What's this reviewer smoking?
  
  How to account for this statement?
  
  Help, someone?
  
  
• The Post American World
  By A3N5KE1TP5RP26 on 2008-05-23
  An absolutely riveting book. It makes a very persuasive case of where the balance of power is today and how it is rapidly shifting to a multi polar stage. The rise of China, India, Brazil, Russia etc. is inevitable yet healthy for the world. A more thoughtful version of "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman. A must read.
  
  
• An Extended Newsweek Article
  By A3V1LGXHHCTBVJ on 2008-06-19
  One should be suspicious of a book on global affairs sold in airport bookshops. This is a lightweight, extended Newsweek article in which Zakaria quotes his friends a lot and makes no penetrating or original observations. The chapter on India is better than the rest of the book. As Foreign Policy Lite for the next US president it will probably secure Zakaria a place in the pantheon of policy advisors.
  
  
• A unoriginal, overly-hyped book with too many factual mistakes
  By A1JQJ339HF257S on 2008-06-17
  I find Zakaria's book to be flat on historical substance, and heavy on pompous anti-American statements. While easy to read his ideas are unoriginal and often times disjointed.
  
  As someone who does not read much about global economics, I hoped this book would be refreshing and perhaps a stepping stone to finding others I could read and learn more from. I was let down. His references are few and far between and his insight on China is far less impressive than on his home country of India.
  
  I think Zakaria was just trying to come back from his popular first book, and capitalize on his already allegiant audience.
  
  Probably would have served him better if he could at least get some of his facts straight. For instance it wasn't the Asian tsuanmi of 2005, it was the tsunami of 2004. And the whole world was not against the US invasion of Iraq, there were plenty of countries who supported it (UK, Turkey, and don't forget Poland).
  
  But it seems Zakaria creates his own reality. His own facts. And for this
  I would not recommend this book to anybody. Well, almost anybody. Perhaps if you are a member of al-qaeda you might appreciate his outlook. Or if you want to learn a little about China and India (emphasis on the word little).
  
  
• This World Has Already Arrived
  By A22LX6529JJ166 on 2008-07-18
  First and foremost, there is an elephant in the room.
  
  Fareed Zakaria is a member of the PNAC: Project for the New American Century. The PNAC advocates using the US military to overthrow foreign governments to enforce American economic interests around the globe, no matter how negative the consequences. The PNAC advocates this foreign policy because there is no check on the United States after the collapse of the USSR. After the PNAC-Iraq campaign didn't turn out to be as cheap and easy as the PNAC and Zakaria thought it would be, Zakaria "changed" his opinion. How interesting; how convenient. A journalistic version of the Peter Principle. This author's PNAC membership is relevant to his latest book.
  
  In "the Post-American World" Zakaria reinforces his points by noting globalization and changes 500 years ago, historically and adequately linking the past with our truly globalized civilization of today. In the latter 18th Century America rose steadily. The Spanish-American war brought territory far off the the shore of the US. After WWII, the US emerged as one of two superpowers, and after the fall of the Soviet Union, became what the author calls, a "hyperpower." This hyperpower status is when many nation-states do what nation-states historically do: get greedy, become selfish, and over-reach diplomatically, economically, and militarily.
  
  To echo other readers, yes this book is optimistic. Why wouldn't it be? The focus is on the global economy and emerging markets, basically. Zakaria claims American influence isn't declining, but that the rest of the world is rising. Where is the evidence that the US is not declining? The evidence of US decline is everywhere, domestically and internationally.
  
  The Post-American world noticeably started emerging in the early 1990s and it's obvious across the globe now. Zakaria accurately focuses on the past 25 years, citing many facts. In my opinion, not only is the rest of the world ascending *economically* (China, India, Brazil, Vietnam, and others) but the US is in a state of slow and steady decline. This is historically normal, and natural. Over the the course of history, all superpowers grow, peak, and then decline. This is not negative. It's the evolution of the nation-state. Just like people. We're born, we grow, we age, and we die. The Roman empire declined over the course of 300 years. The USA is diminishing much faster.
  
  It's not surprising that Americans in the Global Pew survey recorded the lowest of all countries in their opinions about globalization and "free trade" according to Zakaria. Yet, this has been the official policy of the US government for several decades.
  
  With the current economic ascension of several nations, do international organizations accurately represent the current world population and economic strength of the world? Look at the G8: why is Canada in the G8 and Brazil, not? Why are France and Italy members? As for outsourcing, is outsourcing jobs all positive, having no negative ramifications at all? Is chasing the cheapest labor the success of "globalization?" Is opening the door for immigration not only for menial low-paying jobs, but highly skilled ones via the H1-B visa, success of our international global economy in the USA?
  
  Only a couple of complaints about this book: author Zakaria is stating things anyone who follows current events already knows. Many of the global economic facts, especially pertaining to China and India, are already common knowledge. The author could have dug deeper. This book was also very short. Perhaps this book was aimed at readers who don't pay attention to international affairs. "The Post-American World" is for neophytes, and that's OK. Any information, with accurate research, is worthy information. Whatever the author's objectives, the book did reach some of a American public that casually watches the conglomerate American mainstream media, as there were discussions about this book when it was released.
  
  The more Americans become aware, the more frugal, more humble, and less nationalistic they may become.
  
  
• "the rise of the rest"
  By AQ990HW13DP08 on 2008-06-05
  For roughly 300 years two global empires have wielded unilateral influence and control over much of the world -- first Great Britain, and now the United States. But the sun did set on the British Empire, and its successor superpower, says Fareed Zakaria, would do well to learn from history. History "happened" to Britain, and he wonders, "will history happen to America as well? Is it already happening?" While Britain failed economically, it succeeded politically, whereas America faces the opposite challenge; it will maintain its economic clout but must find its place in a changing geo-political landscape.
  
  Zakaria writes "not about the decline of America" but rather, as he repeats throughout his book, "the rise of the rest." Globalization has lifted many boats in many places the last twenty years, creating a diffuse and decentralized economic dynamism throughout much of the world. In 2005, for example, twenty-four of the twenty-five largest IPOs in the world took place outside of America. Three of the world's biggest economies are non-western--China, India and Japan. Taipei boasts the tallest building in the world, but Dubai will soon claim that title. We hear lots about Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, but twenty-two of the twenty-five wealthiest people in the world are not Americans. Brazil has become energy independent, and the UAE can claim "the most richly endowed investment fund." Africa might be the lone exception, but not for long if China continues its vigorous investments and agreements in that resource-rich continent. And it now seems clear that a nation can, despite important disruptions and convulsions, become modern without becoming western; never mind that many places want to become more like the west.
  
  China and India, of course, are the prime examples of new found economic power, and Zakaria devotes a chapter to each of them. China's economy has grown 9% every year since Deng Xiaoping green-lighted economic capitalism (if not political liberalism). The economy has doubled every eight years in that time. Today they export more in a single day than they did in all of 1978. They've lifted 400 million people out of poverty. India boasts similar examples even though it started ten years later; Bollywood beats Hollywood in terms of movies made and tickets sold.
  
  And America? It's far and away still the lone superpower, and that won't change soon. In economics, technology, science, and even education it remains the envy of the world. India, Zakaria reminds us, graduates about 50 PhDs a year in computer science; the United States graduates about 1,000. Militarily, the United States spends more than the rest of the world combined. What's crippling America, Zakaria says, is a politics which has become highly dysfunctional and little more than theater. We've become insular and isolated in an economically decentralized world, "clueless about the world we're supposed to be running." Even worse, while we're still the sole superpower, we've lost our legitimacy. In his final twenty-five pages Zakaria offers six guidelines whereby America can become the world's honest broker of the universal ideals that it espouses. But this requires a new spirit of "consultation, cooperation, and even compromise," and the jury is out whether we're willing or able to assume such a new role in a world that, because of the "rise of the rest," is already post--American.
  
  

• The Return of History and the End of Dreams
• The Second World: Empires and Influence in the New Global Order
• The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad
• Superclass: The Global Power Elite and the World They Are Making
• Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism