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arisbookcorner 's review for:
The Post-American World: Release 2.0
by Fareed Zakaria
IQ "But learning from the rest is no longer a matter of morality or politics. Increasingly it's about competitiveness" pg. 225
I find it eerie that I reviewed the first edition of this book around the same time (July 4, 2011) as I'm about to review this updated version. Coincidence? I think not. And I found new quotes to use (I only double-checked after I'd finished the 2.0 book). Anyway I chose the quote I did because I think I often believed the reason we need to learn from other countries is because it's polite, tolerant, moral, justice. But that one sentence (as silly as this may sound) honed home the point that better explains why its so important we study other cultures for those who don't buy the moral argument. Its a SMART thing to do. My only real issue with this book is that I didn't feel it was fully updated, it didn't focus as much on the Great Recession as I would have liked.
This book is a feel-good kind of book and that's not a bad thing. I found that it keeps things real, knocks Americans off their high horse while not being mired in pessimism. It also makes me feel better about being an IR major because the author still sees the need for more diplomats and policy wonks so let's hope he's right. Another great quote, "There is a fundamental tension in U.S. foreign policy, Does the country want to push its own particular interests abroad, or does it want to create a structure of rules, practices and values by which the world will be bound? In an age of rising new powers, the United States' overriding goals should be the latter-so that even as these countries get more powerful, they will continue to live within the framework of the current international system" (pg. 263) as designated by laws and such. Preach!
I find it eerie that I reviewed the first edition of this book around the same time (July 4, 2011) as I'm about to review this updated version. Coincidence? I think not. And I found new quotes to use (I only double-checked after I'd finished the 2.0 book). Anyway I chose the quote I did because I think I often believed the reason we need to learn from other countries is because it's polite, tolerant, moral, justice. But that one sentence (as silly as this may sound) honed home the point that better explains why its so important we study other cultures for those who don't buy the moral argument. Its a SMART thing to do. My only real issue with this book is that I didn't feel it was fully updated, it didn't focus as much on the Great Recession as I would have liked.
This book is a feel-good kind of book and that's not a bad thing. I found that it keeps things real, knocks Americans off their high horse while not being mired in pessimism. It also makes me feel better about being an IR major because the author still sees the need for more diplomats and policy wonks so let's hope he's right. Another great quote, "There is a fundamental tension in U.S. foreign policy, Does the country want to push its own particular interests abroad, or does it want to create a structure of rules, practices and values by which the world will be bound? In an age of rising new powers, the United States' overriding goals should be the latter-so that even as these countries get more powerful, they will continue to live within the framework of the current international system" (pg. 263) as designated by laws and such. Preach!