Second Chance: Three Presidents and the Crisis of American Superpower
by Zbigniew Brzezinski
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Book Summary Information
Author: Zbigniew BrzezinskiEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Published)
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2007-03-05
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 240
Publisher: Basic Books
Book Reviews of Second Chance: Three Presidents and the Crisis of American Superpower
Book Review: A New World Leader?
Summary: 3 Stars
Brzezinski attempts to analyze and judge the US Presidents who have held the office during this period, since David Hasselhoff sang on the crumbling Wall until today. Bush 41 is given good marks for his ability to cope with the changes and try to steer the former Soviet empire, even though he lacked a larger theoretical base for the new era. Clinton is given high marks for his theoretical base of "globalization" as the new dominant philosophy while Brzezinski sees that the results were mixed at best in implementation. The Chapter about Bush 43 is simply called "Catastrophic Leadership."
From the fall of the Berlin Wall to September 11th, theorists have argued what turn the world organization will take. George H.W. Bush argued that we saw a "New World Order" as the dusts of Soviet (and American) empire settled in the post-Cold War era. While there has not been a true violent revolution to change the system of World Governance, it has seen the creation of the European Union with a single market and currency, the creation of the World Trade Organization, the devolution of power from the center to the periphery in states, in international organizations and in civil society.
Brzezinski unfortunately has learned nothing from the last 20 or so years. He sees Al Qaeda as nothing more than international criminals who should be treated as drug cartels, etc. He argues that "In today's restless world, America needs to identify itself with the quest for universal dignity and democracy" (202) while respecting cultural diversity. Brzezinski argues that only states are real threats to the United States. Brzezinski says the next president will be the one with the last change to take the lead, worldwide and only if she/he does it correctly.
Yet he is inherently caught in the world where that is impossible if one were to view the world his way. He does not see the dissolving of state sovereignty within organizations as the WTO, EU etc. and the devolution to trans governmental organizations such as what Anne-Marie Slaughter called "the global community of law emerging from judicial networks". He further continues the attack on the dignity of non-whites: "India has yet to prove that it can sustain unity and democracy if its religious, ethnic, and linguistic diversity becomes politically charged" (192). Apparently 60 years, longer than any democratic French constitution, is not enough for non-whites to prove they can have a democracy. The next American president may have the last chance to be a Global Leader, but only if she/he understands the world has changed faster and deeper than Brzezinski himself understands.
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