I first heard of Fareed Zakaria through his weekly column in Newsweek. His analysis of world affairs is not only incisive and brilliant but it turns out to have been right. Following, “The Future of Freedom,” a New York Times bestseller, Fareed Zakaria tackles the future we face in the post-American world.
We are clearly told from the very beginning that this book is not about the decline of America but about the rise of everyone else. The growth of countries such as China, India, Brazil, South Africa, Kenya, Turkey, Indonesia and others signals that we are now living through “the third power shift of the modern era” — the two previous power shifts having been the rise of the Western world in the 15th century and the rise of the United States at the end of the 19th. Goldman Sachs predicts that, by 2040, five emerging-market countries — China, India, Brazil, Russia, and Mexico — will together have a larger economic output than the G-7 countries, the seven Western nations that have dominated global business for centuries. This genuine global growth is empowering groups and individuals but on the other hand, hierarchy, centralization and control are being undermined:
“At the politico-military level, we remain in a single-superpower world. But in every other dimension, industrial, financial, educational, social, cultural, the distribution of power is shifting, moving away from American dominance. That does not mean we are entering an anti-American world. But we are moving into a post-American world, one defined and directed from many places and by many people,” says Zakaria.
From that point on, the author attempts to explain what it means to live in a post-American world. The main paradox of the world we live in is the discrepancy between the world’s troubled politics reported by the media and the global economy which, despite frequent crises, is slowly improving. It seems as if we were living in a dangerous world but in fact, some experts argue that, on the contrary, we are living in the most peaceful times since the dawn of history.
We should not believe everything we see on television or on the internet and put into context the BREAKING NEWS that more and more fills our screens. On the other hand, instant and constant communications have boosted international trade. And the effect of outsourcing is seen everywhere, as a increasing number of companies use countries as parts of a chain that buy, manufacture, assemble, market and sell goods.
Rising powers enriched by trade and industry, are not only entering the Western order on their own terms but in some cases bypassing this Western “center” and forging their own ties with one another. So that: “In a post-American world, there may be no center to integrate into,” writes Zakaria.
Despite gloomy forecasts that the United States is on the decline, this country does remain by far the most powerful country. However, Americans tend to believe that their way is the best and the only and the result is there is a growing gap between America’s business elite cosmopolitan class and the majority of the American people who are becoming suspicious of free markets, trade and immigration:
“Just as the world is opening up, America is closing down... In the early decades of the 21st century, the United States succeeded in its great and historic mission, it globalized the world. But along the way, it forgot to globalize itself,” says Zakaria.
However, those who think America is losing its manufacturing industries and indulging in consumption and leisure should keep in mind some important facts. First, the United States spends more on defense research and development than the rest of the world. It dominates nanotechnology with more nanocenters than Germany, the United Kingdom, and China combined. It is also a leader in biotechnology. Moreover, American companies still excel at transforming ideas into lucrative products on the world market.
Second, higher education is America’s best industry. Eight of the top ten universities in the world are in the United States and the American school system might be lax on discipline and memorization, but it is superb at developing the mental critical faculties which are needed to succeed in life.
Third, unlike Europe, the United States is demographically vibrant. As it enters the twenty-first century, the United States is not fundamentally a weak economy or a decadent society. But it has developed a highly dysfunctional politics. An antiquated and overly rigid political system, about 224 years old, has been captured by money, special interests, a sensationalist media, and ideological attack groups,” writes Zakaria.
America’s greatest challenge is political. The United States can no longer impose diplomatic imperialism. But can Washington prosper in a world that it does not dominate? What will be its role? The author suggests it become a global broker, a job the United States with its global interests and presence, complete portfolio of power, and diverse immigrant communities, could play with great success.
The world we live in is heading for changes. The price of oil and commodities is high. Raw materials and agricultural produce are also becoming more expensive. Pressures on the Earth’s non- renewable resources will at some point end the era of low inflation that has helped create global prosperity.
On a political level, the shifting of world powers will eventually bring changes to the traditional mechanisms of international cooperation symbolized by the United Nations and the permanent members of the UN Security Council. Similarly, the G-8 does not include China, the world’s fourth largest economy and the IMF is always headed by a European and the World Bank by an American. America can thrive in this new and challenging era as long as it remains an open country, “openness is America’s greatest strength... It has thrived because it has kept itself open to the world, to goods and services, to ideas and inventions, and above all, to people and cultures. This openness has allowed America to create the first universal nation, a place where people from all over the world can work, mingle, mix and share in a common dream and a common destiny,” concludes Fareed Zakaria.