Book Review: The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria

“The Post-American World”
Author: Fareed Zakaria
New York: W. W. Norton & Co.

My attention was piqued by an abbreviated version of “The Post-American World,” the new book by Fareed Zakaria; it was titled “The Rise of the Rest” and appeared in the May 12, 2008, issue of “Newsweek Magazine.” So I read the unabridged version, and I was not disappointed.

Fareed Zakaria is in a wonderful position to give us a current view of America’s changing place in the world. As the editor of “Newsweek International,” he has wide-ranging contacts. Further, he is equipped by his own history to offer both an insider’s view and an outsider’s view of America as a player on the world stage. He grew up in India and came to the U.S. to attend college. He has stayed and become an appreciative citizen of this country, while also continuing his education and broadening his global perspective.

While Zakaria’s book pays special attention to the rise of China and India, the decline of Britain, and the more recent decline of America as a superpower, what is perhaps most striking is the way this overview highlights America’s contributions to the rest of the world. Though America’s bid for empire has failed, our gifts to the world have succeeded in bringing new hope to many. The bad news is that America will no longer be as dominant in the world; the good news is that the world will be in many ways more stable, because there are many more new economic players—countries like Brazil and Mexico, Dubai and Malaysia, as well as the European Union.

I found Zakaria to be not only well-grounded in history but one of the few commentators able to grasp and communicate a view of world events larger than America’s view. His analysis is a helpful corrective to the threat-oriented view which has tended to prevail in recent years, and which has fostered a renewed militarism. Zakaria notes that power, as the ability to influence other nations, can only be reestablished from a renewed perception that we have “legitimacy”; in other words, that we are true to our stated ideals. American leadership will be welcomed when it is seen as contributing to the welfare of all.

Here is some more good news: Two areas in which America still leads the world are higher education (which I daresay will surprise some folks) and entrepreneurship. Where we are stuck, and therefore most vulnerable as a country, is in our political process, which makes it harder for America to adjust to new realities. Interestingly enough, the country most like us in that regard is … India.

Our adopted citizen Fareed offers sound suggestions for what America needs to do to maximize our assets and minimize our vulnerabilities. The biggest single change we need to make is to “stop cowering in fear” (page 250), a posture that has contributed to our “strategic missteps.” It is to be hoped that whoever takes the helm of our ship of state in January will have read this book, and that many others who care about our country will do likewise.