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A review by worldlibraries
The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria
4.0
Fareed Zakarias is well-known now to American television audiences, but it is important to remember what a breakthrough broadcasting success he was when he started his international affairs show. For most of us Americans he was the most prominent Muslim-American we had ever seen on television. Indeed, friends have suggested he could be our first Muslim-American Secretary of State. I appreciated that his was the first Sunday talk show to consistently, week-after-week, bring an international panel of guests on his show to discuss how issues looked from abroad. Utilizing intellect and charm, he led Americans in considering and valuing viewpoints from non-Americans at a time when America was scared, hunkered down, and lashing out in Iraq and Afghanistan.
If Thomas Friedman's "The World is Flat," helped me understand the economic impact of globalization, Zakarias' "The Post-American World and the Rise of the Rest" soothed me as an American and made me comfortable with the political impact of globalization (despite its alarming title). As nations become "more like America" and compete with us using the same level of democracy and capitalistic meritocracy that made America such a success, it could be easy for Americans to fear the future and the world more. Zakarias suggests that if we stay true to values and don't fight the reality of the rise of the rest, America has enough advantages with our superb ability to assimilate immigrants, our spectacular institutions of higher education, and our storied ability to turn research into actual products to compete just fine against nations with larger populations. Our role will be to lead by example, coordinate nations in a multi-polar world as George H.W. Bush did so well in the first Gulf War, and thrive.
If Thomas Friedman's "The World is Flat," helped me understand the economic impact of globalization, Zakarias' "The Post-American World and the Rise of the Rest" soothed me as an American and made me comfortable with the political impact of globalization (despite its alarming title). As nations become "more like America" and compete with us using the same level of democracy and capitalistic meritocracy that made America such a success, it could be easy for Americans to fear the future and the world more. Zakarias suggests that if we stay true to values and don't fight the reality of the rise of the rest, America has enough advantages with our superb ability to assimilate immigrants, our spectacular institutions of higher education, and our storied ability to turn research into actual products to compete just fine against nations with larger populations. Our role will be to lead by example, coordinate nations in a multi-polar world as George H.W. Bush did so well in the first Gulf War, and thrive.