The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy And Its Geostrategic Imperatives by Zbigniew Brzezinski

Product Description

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 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. Why NATO expansion offers Russia the chance to undo the mistakes of the past, and why Russia cannot afford to toss this opportunity aside. Why the fate of Ukraine and Azerbaijan are so important to America. Why viewing China as a menace is likely to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Why America is not only the first truly global superpower but also the last—and what the implications are for America’s legacy. Brzezinski’s surprising and original conclusions often turn conventional wisdom on its head as he lays the groundwork for a new and compelling vision of America’s vital interests. Once, again, Zbigniew Brzezinski provides our nation with a philosophical and practical guide for maintaining and managing our hard-won global power.

Product Details

* Amazon Sales Rank: #550973 in Books
* Published on: 1997-10-09
* Number of items: 1
* Binding: Hardcover
* 240 pages

Editorial Reviews

The New York Times Book Review, Bernard Gwertzman
Brzezinski has now stated and restated his concerns. His books are there for any political leader to use as material for future policy declarations. But it is difficult in the current situation to imagine much of a competition to take up Brzesinski's ideas, however well they are argued here.

The Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Review, Walter Russell Mead
At its best, The Grand Chessboard makes permanent contributions to the national debate over American foreign policy and power. At its worst, it demonstrates the need for contemporary statesmen and political thinkers to immerse themselves more deeply in the rich tradition of Anglo-American strategic thought that brought first Britain and now the United States to global preeminence at an astonishingly low cost.

From Kirkus Reviews
The 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. (Radio satellite tour) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Customer Reviews

Advisor to Barack Obama3
As recently reported, the author of this book Brzezinski has wholeheartedly endorsed Barack Obama for President for 2008, and was one of the first well known foreign policy experts to do so. Brezezinski has been chosen by Obama as his key foreign policy advisor. Barack Obama has also been very forthright in his praise of Brzezinski as "someone I have learned an immense amount from", and "one of our most outstanding scholars and thinkers".

Brezeinski's daughter is a regular TV host on various MSNBC news talk shows.

American Hegemony 1015
Basically, this book is the work of a mastermind geostrategist that outlines his view of America's global role, and what we need to do to maintain our global preeminence. The book is dated-it was published in 1997-but in a way this makes it interesting as we can see how some of Brzezinski's predictions have come to fruition.

First things first, Brzezinski is not some kind of devious Dr. Evil, and he has been highly critical of American actions under the current administration, so to say that he is some sort of pre-cursor to the Bush doctrine is unfair and inaccurate. Obviously, any book that refers to the potential fate of whole countries as a grand game of chess is certain to ruffle feathers, but this is basically what international relations experts do. This is a practical, unsentimental, and insightful argument for American global primacy and how we should use our power and influence for good. This is not to say that I agree with this worldview, I don't, but there's no need to get hysterical about it.

Brzezinski mostly concentrates on Eurasia, which according to him is the central battleground for competing global powers. Not only does it have plentiful natural resources, but its geographic location-the meeting point between Europe and Asia-essentially make it the center of the advanced world. Brzezinski fluently describes the potential problem spots in this area as well as potential rivals, allies and global aspirants. France, Germany, Russia, China, and to a lesser extent Turkey and Iran are all important world players in this chess game and for what it's worth, Brzezinski favors friendly relations with all of these countries. Unlike our current leaders, he opposes the demonization of any country and insists that all the aforementioned powers can be brought into a mutually beneficial relationship.

To be fair, Brzezinski argues that a sudden end to American supremacy would likely be disastrous to the region, causing massive instability and anarchy. He also claims that if we abandon our imperial role, this will only leave the door open for another, perhaps less benevolent power to take our place. He also claims that America's hegemony is best understood as a temporary substitute for a more equal global partnership. Of course this is all debatable, and it is fair to argue that imperialism is the cause of this region's problems, but Brzezinski sees the world as it is, not as it should be.

So whether you see Brzezinski as a benevolent visionary, or a maniacal plotter of world domination, this book is an excellent glimpse into the mind of a brilliant globalist and international strategist. Highly recommended to anyone with the slightest interest in international affairs.

Brzenzinski's Blueprint for US domninance - follwe to the T by Bush5
Everyone should read this book.

In the late 90's Brzenzinski gave his plan for how the US should dominate the world.

Bush has followed it to a T.

Interesting - Democrats plan - Republicans execution.

Fantastic that all the news sources have pretty much given it a pass.

B explains that to get the US people to attack middle asia - which he feels we must - it will take a Perl Harbor class event.

He also explains why it is necessary to dislodge governments friendly to Russia from the countries near russia.

Read it and think