Zakaria: The Post-American World

F Zakaria, The Post-American World (WW Norton & Company, 2008).

The book traces possible future worlds where the US is no longer the sole hegemon. The author posits that there have been three fundamental shifts in global power historically: the rise of the West from the 1500s through the Industrial Revolution and into the 20th century, the rise of the US as the world's main super power from WWII on and the coming "rise of the rest", which will change the way that the world works.

Zakaria briefly explores a seeming paradox between strong economic growth and a seemingly increasingly dangerous world. Even as, for example, war between Israel and Hezbollah raged, the Israeli stock-market drove skywards. The author claims that the apparent violence that is presented graphical and perpetually is overstated by the nature of modern media. This proclamation is obviously poorly timed, as global financial contractions also indicate that previously strong economic growth may have been based on faulty premises.

There is great global abundance of peace and wealth, and this, the author claims, stems from deep structural drivers that have been around for quite a while. These drivers are related to either politics, the economy or technology. These forces create problems of plenty, ie., the most pressing problems that we face globally are those that are a result of our resounding "success".

Will the future world be clearly Western or not? What will the role of culture be? China is positioned as the challenger and India is positioned as the ally. What role will American power play in this post-American world? Now that America has succeeded in globalizing the world, has it failed in globalizing itself?