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blckngld18's review against another edition
3.0
I like Zakaria. This was a little outdated (1999 or so) but right on the money. Really liked the book I read of his a few years back Post American World ?
Why does so much seem like common sense when I read these books but there is nothing we can do to change things?
Why does so much seem like common sense when I read these books but there is nothing we can do to change things?
miamickut's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars. Dated but Zakaria understands all the pieces that are there to explain how we got here and ideologically what is going on in the world. I find him thought provoking and the chapter on the death of authority in particular, to be a fascinating look at 2020/21.
Quarantine read.
Quarantine read.
blacktag189's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent book. Extremely insightful about the mess we have and the path ahead. Highly recommend for anyone that wants a history lesson as well as predictions for future foreign policy. I really love Zakaria's work!
skitch41's review against another edition
4.0
According to the copy I've borrowed from my local library, this book was published in about 2003, 2004. 8 or 9 years later, this book could still be about the problems that the world and America face today. In this stunning, against-the-current book, Mr. Zakaria makes a compelling case that many of the problems we face today is not because of too little democracy, but too much democracy. Though written far in advance of the Arab Spring, Mr. Zakaria points how Islamic populism, when left unchecked, can produce some rather frightening results. He also writes about the history of liberalism, the idea of limited government powers through checks & balances through written constitution and the Rule of Law, and how it has produced better, more stable, and freer societies than pure democracies. He even points out how liberal authoritarian societies (countries that have no democracy, but a strong rule of law, i.e. China) have done far better economically than modern democracies. But his best case for more liberty and less democracy is his analysis of America, where he notes how badly government has done when legislative and political processes have been opened up to the public, like when Congressional committees began to have open rather than closed meetings. His on the spot analysis of California's experiment with direct democracy is enlightening and, for a native Californian, depressing. His ultimate call for a reinstitution of checks and balances in our government and the curbing of (some) of the public's input in the political process is something that all Americans of every political stripe should consider as they head to the polls this November.
eralon's review
5.0
This book is excellent, and I strongly recommend it to everyone. Its thesis is that there's a significant difference between freedom (constitutional liberalism) and democracy and that if wielded poorly, democracy can be the foil of freedom. There is so much more to this book, though. Almost every page gave me something important to ponder. It could function as a starter guide to democracy.
Frequently when I read, I feel like the same thing could have been said in a much shorter more tightly edited text, but this time, I felt quite the opposite. This book is very tight and won't waste any of your time. In fact, I wanted to read more about some of the issues he raised at the end of the book. I'm eager to going to read another Zakaria book next, The Post-American World.
Frequently when I read, I feel like the same thing could have been said in a much shorter more tightly edited text, but this time, I felt quite the opposite. This book is very tight and won't waste any of your time. In fact, I wanted to read more about some of the issues he raised at the end of the book. I'm eager to going to read another Zakaria book next, The Post-American World.
swatjdm's review
5.0
Informative look at democracy's worldwide, very readable for a dense topic that deals with social vs. liberal democracies, history of both, and current global regimes and trouble spots.
mattleesharp's review
3.0
Zakaria identifies the root cause of many of the problems of securing liberty at home and abroad - principal among them overdemocratization, but I don't think his solutions are as well thought out. I also just generally keep Zakaria at arm's length when it comes to political thought. He can be really insightful and illuminating on matters of foreign policy. I've seen really great an interesting interviews from world leaders in tumultuous regions of the world on GPS, but there's a streak of neoliberal don't-shake-things-up-ness to his commentary that's not really to my taste.
This book is a decent read if you're up on political thought and have a long commute, but it will just sort of fuse with a lot of these kinds of arguments from other cable news hosts. No better evidence of that than the fact I just discovered on here that I read this book in 2011 and had completely forgotten about it. haha
This book is a decent read if you're up on political thought and have a long commute, but it will just sort of fuse with a lot of these kinds of arguments from other cable news hosts. No better evidence of that than the fact I just discovered on here that I read this book in 2011 and had completely forgotten about it. haha
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