Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives
As the twentieth century draws to a close, the United States has emerged as the world’s only superpower: no other nation possesses comparable military and economic power or has interests that bestride the globe. Yet the critical question facing America remains unanswered: What should be the nation’s global strategy for maintaining its exceptional position in the world? Zbigniew Brzezinski tackles this question head-on in this incisive and pathbreaking book.The Grand Chessboard presents...
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This geopolitical strategist and former national security adviser offers a new global vision for securing American preeminence into the next century. Includes maps and tables. Publishers Weekly Not everyone will agree that the U.S. must "perpetuate [its] own dominant position for at least a generation and preferably longer," but former National Security Adviser Brzezinski offers a meticulously detailed argument for how and why we should. He begins with a quick review of every empire in history and how they compare with America, which he concludes is the first truly global power. He then argues that "Eurasia is... the chessboard on which the struggle for global primacy continues to be played," and moves on to equally brief but comprehensive accounts of political developments there, ranging over entire histories and concluding with how America can best balance power in the region. While it seems overly ambitious to attempt to cover this much ground in a short work, Brzezinski succeeds. He is less convincing, however, when he strays from geopolitics and claims that America is internally threatened by being "fixated on mass entertainment... heavily dominated by hedonistic and socially escapist themes." Those who are uncomfortable with his initial premise will be relieved by his conclusion: America's ultimate destiny is to give up its primacy in exchange for "an enduring framework of global geopolitical cooperation." (Oct.)
List of MapsList of Charts and TablesIntroduction: Superpower Politics1Hegemony of a New Type3The Short Road to Global Supremacy3The First Global Power10The American Global System242The Eurasian Chessboard30Geopolitics and Geostrategy37Geostrategic Players and Geopolitical Pivots40Critical Choices and Potential Challenges483The Democratic Bridgehead57Grandeur and Redemption61America's Central Objective71Europe's Historic Timetable814The Black Hole87Russia's New Geopolitical Setting87Geostrategic Phantasmagoria96The Dilemma of the One Alternative1185The Eurasian Balkans123The Ethnic Cauldron125The Multiple Contest135Neither Dominion Nor Exclusion1486The Far Eastern Anchor151China: Not Global but Regional158Japan: Not Regional but International173America's Geostrategic Adjustment1857Conclusion194A Geostrategy for Eurasia197A Trans-Eurasian Security System208Beyond the Last Global Superpower209Index217
\ Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly\ Not everyone will agree that the U.S. must "perpetuate [its] own dominant position for at least a generation and preferably longer," but former National Security Adviser Brzezinski offers a meticulously detailed argument for how and why we should. He begins with a quick review of every empire in history and how they compare with America, which he concludes is the first truly global power. He then argues that "Eurasia is... the chessboard on which the struggle for global primacy continues to be played," and moves on to equally brief but comprehensive accounts of political developments there, ranging over entire histories and concluding with how America can best balance power in the region. While it seems overly ambitious to attempt to cover this much ground in a short work, Brzezinski succeeds. He is less convincing, however, when he strays from geopolitics and claims that America is internally threatened by being "fixated on mass entertainment... heavily dominated by hedonistic and socially escapist themes." Those who are uncomfortable with his initial premise will be relieved by his conclusion: America's ultimate destiny is to give up its primacy in exchange for "an enduring framework of global geopolitical cooperation." (Oct.)\ \ \ \ \ BooknewsPresents Brzezinski's (former National Security Adviser to the President) views on geopolitical strategies to maintain the global power of the U.S. Focusing on four regions of the Eurasian continent (Western Europe, Russia, and Central and Eastern Asia) as the chessboard upon which America's supremacy will be tested, he argues that U.S. foreign policy (with a view towards the establishment of an expanded NATO and a Trans-Eurasian Security System) should rely on maneuver and manipulation to prevent the emergence of a hostile state or coalition of states that could seek to challenge the U.S.'s global stewardship. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.\ \ \ Kirkus ReviewsThe former national security advisor is still a believer in geopolitics after all these years. Like most foreign-policy aficionados weaned on the Cold War, Brzezinski (Out of Control, 1993) has been forced by the disintegration of the Soviet Union to broaden his perspective—but not very far. He sees the US as the only global superpower, but inability to maintain its hegemony indefinitely means that "geostrategic skill" is essential. To what end is not specified beyond the vague shaping of "a truly cooperative global community" that is in "the fundamental interests of humankind," but in this genre, goals are commonly assumed rather than examined. In any case, Brzezinski casts Eurasia as the playing field upon which the world's fate is determined and analyzes the possibilities in Europe, the former Soviet Union, the Balkans (interpreted broadly), and the Far East. Like a grandmaster in chess, he plots his strategy several moves in advance, envisioning a three-stage development. Geopolitical pluralism must first be promoted to defuse challenges to America, then compatible international partners must be developed to encourage cooperation under American leadership, and finally the actual sharing of international political responsibility can be considered. The twin poles of this strategy are a united Europe in the West and China in the East; the central regions are more problematic and, for Brzezinski, not as critical in constructing a stable balance of power. This updated version of East-West geopolitics is worth taking seriously but it is also an amazing example of how a perspective can be revised without actually being rethought.\ \
