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 The Grand ChessboardAmerican Primacy And Its Geostrategic Imperativesby Zbigniew Brzezinski Sep 17, 1998
DescriptionAs 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 Brzezinski’s bold and provocative geostrategic vision for American preeminence in the twenty-first century. Central to his analysis is the exercise of power on the Eurasian landmass, which is home to the greatest part of the globe’s population, natural resources, and economic activity. Stretching from Portugal to the Bering Strait, from Lapland to Malaysia, Eurasia is the ”grand chessboard” on which America’s supremacy will be ratified and challenged in the years to come. The task facing the United States, he argues, is to manage the conflicts and relationships in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East so that no rival superpower arises to threaten our interests or our well-being. The heart of The Grand Chessboard is Brzezinski’s analysis of the four critical regions of Eurasia and of the stakes for America in each arena—Europe, Russia, Central Asia, and East Asia. The crucial fault lines may seem familiar, but the implosion of the Soviet Union has created new rivalries and new relationships, and Brzezinski maps out the strategic ramifications of the new geopolitical realities. He explains, for example:Why France and Germany will play pivotal geostrategic roles, whereas Britain and Japan will not. Reviews“[Brzezinski’s] analysis of East Asian realities and of the complicated U.S.-China-Japan relationship is lucid and constructive and a joy to read.” “[A] book to be read and to be taken seriously.… Brzezinski has written a book that is often intriguing and contains many accurate analyses and assessments.” “Regardless of the reader’s politics, [this] study is compulsory reading.” “Brzezinski’s reach is breathtaking … in a masterly fashion, he takes the reader on a trip around the world in 200 pages.… The Grand Chessboard is a fascinating book, and a disturbing one in the best sense of the term.” “The great merit of this volume lies in its analysis of the strategic outlook and policy dilemmas of a host of states in Eurasia, a tour d’horizon lucidly rendered. Brzezinski’s analysis of the triangular relationship among China, Japan, and America—together with the policy recommendations flowing therein—is particularly good.” “In his slim, but impressive, tour d’horizon, [Brzezinski] is as focused and energetic as ever … a provocative book in the best sense of the word.” “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 … While it seems ambitious to attempt this much ground in a short work, Brzezinski succeeds.”
“The Grand Chessboard is the book we have been waiting for: a clear-eyed, tough-minded, definitive exposition of America’s strategic interests in the Post–Cold War world. A masterful synthesis of historical, geographical, and political analysis, it is geostrategic thinking in the grand tradition of Bismarck.” Selling TerritoryWorld |
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