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| The Post-American World | 
 enlarge | Author: Fareed Zakaria
Publisher: W. W. Norton
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $15.45
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Avg. Customer Rating:  158 reviews
Sales Rank: 150
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.6 x 6.2 x 1.3
ISBN: 039306235X
Dewey Decimal Number: 303.49
EAN: 9780393062359
ASIN: 039306235X
Publication Date: May 5, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Thin and meandering June 24, 2008
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
There are some excellent observations in this book, unfortunately they are not given the depth of analysis and discussion that they deserve with barely over two hundred and fifty over-sized font pages. Some sections have such sweeping generalizations that he obviously misses the mark. Suggesting that most of our impressions of WWII are laid out by Ambrose and Burns, and that Americans believe Russia did not bear the brunt of the sacrifices in lives during WWII is ridiculous, as anyone with even a cursory reading of WWII history knows better.
There are good suggestions on how to deal with the changing world dynamic, and getting out of our previous mode of thinking about the emerging countries in our new globalized world. But I ended thinking that another writer could have written more extensively and effectively about the subject.
very timely !! June 20, 2008
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
This is very timely book, coming out when America seems to be losing its clout and China and India are emerging as likely superpowers.
I must point out that the job of the historian is to look at events retrospectively - that is to see what had happened to bring us where we are today. It is almost pointless and an exercise in futility to use past events to predict the future. For example, hardly any historians or futurists foresaw the conquest of China by the Communists in such a short period of time, In addition, the dissolution of the British Empire after World War II and the breakup of the Soviet Union in the 1990's were real surprises.
I must take issues with the author on several points.
1.. American started with a British civilisation and a classless society - there were no kings, princes, lords and dukes. After the 1964 Civil Rights Act and Watergate, America has become a truly free and democratic country unparalled in the world. For example. there was the college dropout who built up his software company and became the richest man in the world. There was the German Jew who moved to America to avoid Nazi prosecution and rose to be Secretary of State. There was the black woman who started in poor and humble circumstances and became Secretary of State. America's free and democratic spirit will make it strong and dominant in the world regardless of what will happen.
2.. American education does not really teach students how to think. I have seen many high school kids taking special courses in order to score high in the SAT and get into good colleges and universities. The SAT exam, while intended to test a student's potential, still has success based on memorisation and cramming. The Asian countries (Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong) have better education systems because they could enforce strict method and stern discipline in their schools
3.. Despite its economic successes. China faces serious problems in air and water pollution. The power of the Central government is eroding . Province are getting more powerful and self-assertive. It is quite likely that China will split up in the future.
Readable but deeply flawed June 23, 2008
6 out of 11 found this review helpful
I found The Post American World to be entertaining and informative. The chapters on China, India, and America, were interesting and perhaps insightful. The chapters on his analysis of the American war in Iraq are deeply flawed by his apparent Bush derangement syndrome. He apparently has never spoken to a Republican, rather depending on Democrats to define Republican positions. This is a shame because otherwise the book was entertaining and does a good job of arguing that the world is being formed by the rise of India and China.
The Post American World June 2, 2008
5 out of 9 found this review helpful
Zakaria presents an optimistic view of the future financial development of India, China and the U.S.A. It is an entertaining portrait which is particularly interesting given the author's own Indian roots. However, as is true with all projections, conjecture faces the reality of climatic change, uncertain political events from neighboring countries (North Korea, Pakistan, Nepal, Afganistan), and the vagaries of an unpredictable recession with shortages of food and fuel. Such projections make even a hopeful prediction of a "post American" world no more than speculation.
 "the rise of the rest" June 5, 2008
5 out of 10 found this review helpful
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.
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