Resources / Book of the Month

This is a very good overview of how the world is developing a global economy, the ways (good and bad) that the emergence of two large nation-markets (China and India) are affecting that economy, and the place of the US within it, both now and in the future.

One of the more interesting things that Zakaria illuminates are the various ways that a major power like the United States might respond to the challenges posed by an up-and-comer like China onto the world stage. He compares America’s situation to that of Great Britain at the beginning of the 20th Century and discusses the way that Great Britain dealt with the emergence of the US. Further, he suggests that the US take a similar attitude toward China. That is, don’t try to block China from becoming a world power. Instead, we in the US should accept China as a key player and accommodate ourselves to China’s new role. This is, Zakaria says, what Britain did during the twilight years of its empire and, thus, managed to retain an influential political role for itself well past the time when it had ceased be a major economic power.

Some reviewers have charged that this book is a rehash of the work of Tom Friedman et. al. and, to some extent, that is true. However, I believe that Zakaria adds a new dimension to the established point of view that globalization’s cheerleaders (like Friedman) have offered. His experience as an immigrant to the US, his roots in Indian culture, and his own personal observations give him a broader perspective and, not incidentally, one that is a good deal more optimistic than some of the others who have written on similar topics.

--BONNIE