Zakaria wisdom comes through again
Fareed Zakaria's extremely useful perspectives and insights are partly due to his origins in India, and his travels in his work as a journalist having extensive conversations with leaders all over the world.

He writes clearly and doesn't seem to be trying to impress with how knowledgeable he is. All the while drawing pictures which seem to me to have more depth about how the world really works than anyone else I've read.

This book is about empires and how they have been managed over the last few hundred years. What seemed to work and what didn't work.

He has some clear recommendations about the US should do to manage in the world without the hegemony we've enjoyed in the last 50 years. He describes the rise of recently poor countries, especially China, as a change we aren't dealing with very well. He sees the fear-mongering of our politicians as the biggest handicap we have, but doesn't mention the media's role in nightly rubbing our noses in the many potential dangers in the world, giving us a very distorted view.

Very worth reading.

pretty good road map
Mr. Zakaria is an unabashed free trader and glosses over the bad results the IMF and WTO and the Chicago School of Economics have had on real people. However, he is an intelligent observer and has good recommendations for the future. He also has some pretty good insight into where we have gone wrong. This should definitely be read by voters getting ready to choose a president.

Oustanding in every way
Zakaria presents an intelligent, well-informed, and well documented outline of the challenges American foreign policy faces with the rise of the rest of the world. He is too wise and too sensible to take extreme positions and shows how a more balanced American approach could benefit the country and the world. This is a book that should be widely read and saluted for its good sense.

The Post American World
Excellent and thought provoking view as to how the world is likely to look in the 21st century. It should be considered compulsory reading for the President of the USA.

Misleading in many ways
As a French-Australian, I have to say that he mischaracterises both French and Australian attitudes.

Sarko fiercely pro-American? He doesn't favor the Iraq war, the death penalty, health care run by insurance companies or mass gun ownership. And, rightly or worngly, these are the things America is known for. Way back in 1995, Chirac was called pro-American too, since he has spent some months there as a young man. How long did that last? Get a memory, stop dealing in cliches, superficialities, generalisations and banalities.

Vietnam War : it was passionately opposed by millions of Australians. but not only won't you learnt that in the book, Zakaria will actively mislead you into thinking Australians were cheering it on all the way.

I don't know whether he just hasn't done his research, is a lazy thinker or has an agenda to push that makes him disregard facts that stand in his way.

It's a shame because it's a good topic; but it needs a more honest and intelligent treatment.