The Post-American World (NF 2008) - Fareed Zakaria

Zakaria opens The Post-American World with the following sentence:

"This is a book not about the decline of America but rather about the rise of everyone else."

Zakaria goes on to describe three significant power shifts that have taken place in the world over the last 500 years, events that have had global significance:

The rise of the Western world (early 15th century - late 18th century), including modern “science and technology, commerce and capitalism, the agricultural and industrial revolutions,” all resulting in dominance in the West.

The rise of the United States (late 19th century until roughly the last 20 years), which Zakaria calls “the most powerful nation since imperial Rome, and the only one that was stronger than any likely combination of other nations.”

The rise of the rest. “Look around,” Zakaria says. “The tallest building in the world is now in Taipei... The world’s richest man is Mexican, and it’s 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.”

And on and on. Yet while Zakaria insists that we still live in “a single-superpower world,” power is shifting away from American dominance. Just because we’re living in a post-American world, however, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s an anti-American one. (Hmmmm.... Wonder where’s he’s been for the past eight years?)

Has the United States been responsible for the rise of the rest? This section is a bit lengthy, but worth a look:

The irony is that the rise of the rest is a consequence of American ideas and actions. For sixty years, American politicians and diplomats have traveled around the world pushing countries to open their markets, free up their politics, and embrace trade and technology. We have urged peoples in distant lands to take up the challenge of competing in the global economy, freeing up their currencies, and developing new industries. We counseled them to be unafraid of change and learn the secrets of our success. And it worked: the natives have gotten good at capitalism. But now we are becoming suspicious of the very things we have long celebrated - free markets, trade, immigration, and technological change. And all this is happening when the tide is going our way. Just as the world is opening up, America is closing down.

I first listened to the audiobook version of The Post-American World. I pointed out to my friend John that I wanted to get my hands on a print version, since Zakaria makes many broad generalizations that I wanted to see documented. (And as John correctly reminded me, what political writer doesn’t make broad generalizations?) Zakaria does document frequently, but undocumented generalizations are aplenty, such as some of the ones in the above paragraph. There’s a lot of truth in that paragraph, but some of it is wrapped up in a package that's just a little too tidy. Yes, some countries have embraced capitalism. We are suspicious of some countries, sometimes for good reason. But it’s a lot more complex than that.

That’s not to say that Zakaria doesn’t have some very interesting thoughts and ideas. He does and the book is certainly worth reading for them. His look at the education systems in the U.S. and other parts of the world is striking, but he makes some conclusions that sometimes seem to be illogical, especially based on some of his own information. Zakaria claims on page 198 that by “2010, foreign students will get more than 50 percent of all Ph.D.” degrees in the U.S. He further claims that “If America can keep the people it educates in the country, the innovation will happen here. If they go back home, the innovation will travel with them.”

Not necessarily. Just a few pages previously, Zakaria claims that most foreign countries lack cultures that regularly challenge conventional wisdom, leading to more risk-taking and opportunities for innovation. Even if the innovation does travel with them, if it finds itself in a country that stifles it, what good is it?

Yes, I am nit-picking somewhat. Zakaria does a fine job of focusing on the history of two hugely emerging nations, China and India, two nations that the rest of the world simply cannot ignore if they want to compete globally. This nearly 100-page section is excellent.

Also thought-provoking is Zakaria’s New Rules for a New Age in the chapter called “American Purpose.” Americans can no longer simply copy history; we must learn from it. We have to realize that we can’t have it all. (I’m not even sure we should want it all.) We have to take a 21st century look at our foreign policy, not a 19th century one. We’ve got to stop thinking that the military is the ultimate answer to every problem. And we’ve got to stop being so damn scared of everything and everyone.

It may not sound like it, but The Post-American World is largely optimistic. The 21st century has brought with it globalization, enormous leaps in technology, and just a couple of days ago, evidence of a big shift in American thinking. Maybe there's good cause for optimism.