Fareed Zakaria Post American World Book Review Few would disagree that the previous U.S. administration of George W. Bush Jr. plunged America’s international reputation to an all-time low. Even as the country staggers to recover international goodwill under President Barack Obama, a homegrown credit crisis, captured most strikingly in the collapse of several iconic institutions of American industry like Citigroup and General Motors, has brought the U.S. economy to a standstill. Few would doubt that America will eventually recover from both crises. Be that as it may, the unipolar moment, centered on the preeminence of American power, purse, and presence may well and truly be over, or so we are often told. What powers will take the place …show more content…
This new global order, Fareed is quick to remind, has in fact proven remarkably peaceful. While a conclusion that would perhaps be initially met with raised eyebrows, Fareed proceeds to explain this in a manner that makes eminent sense. For instance, he argues that Islamic threat is overrated and that the struggle between governments and terrorists will persist, but with the former holding the upper hand. For instance, he explains, Al Qaeda may have been a movement out to rally the entire Muslim world to jihad against the West, but the many variations within Islam undermine its ability to merge into a single monolithic force. He goes on to suggest that ideological watchdogs have focused so much on jihad rhetoric that they have ceased to take into account the actual Muslim societies - which are frustrated with the fundamentalists, wish for modernity (that allows for dignity and cultural pride), and pursue practical solutions not martyrdom. Equally telling is his explanation for this artificial and unnecessary state of paranoia we live in. The problem, to him, lies in the mismatch between people’s perception and fear of the danger (i.e. war, terrorism, organized violence) that allegedly surrounds them, and the actual reality. This, he argues, can be partly attributed to
She describes how the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) divides the world into two camps: the camp of Islam under the caliphate and the camp of the West under the crusaders. Muslims who have not joined either ISIL or the crusaders are said to inhabit the “gray zone.” To win, ISIL needs to eliminate the gray zone by forcing “the grayish” to choose between the two sides. However, the Moroccan-American author also contends with this black and white view of the world in the United States. She experiences this when people express that the only Muslims they see are
The United States of America is a melting pot of various cultures, who wish to obtain one goal, the “American Dream”. Being an American means one is guaranteed by law to have natural rights, which are life, liberty, and property. In the government’s eyes, one must become a legalized citizen in the United States, to be considered as “American”, but there happens to be a deeper reasoning to be truly recognized as an American. Americans are seen equally, which allow most individuals to be successful in what they want to pursue. Many Americans show patriotism towards The United States of America by celebrating national holidays, and going to patriotic events.
In a world that is known of many backgrounds, cultures, religions, and most important different views on the way of life. We face the biggest challenge in civilization and that’s diversity, because of the fact all over the world we disagree more than we can agree on what is taking place in this world many places result in violence to solve problems. Most of the violence that take place are within the nation. People tend to fight again things they feel doesn’t apply to them or would affect their way of living. However, a major problem global is that when nations can’t agree internationally on ceasing something that another feel is not lawful that’s when things become more complex. And the act of terrorism against
After the war, the American people made the change from "old" ways to "new" ways. Many factors, such as new technology, fundamentalism, new looks and church led to tension between the old and the new. The 1920s were a time of conflicting viewpoints between traditional behaviors and new and changing attitudes.
The American citizens who suffers from poverty did not have the choice to be or not to be in their situation so they suffered greatly since they were not given equal opportunity's as the rest of America. People might have thought that these people on the streets are just lazy people who never gave a damn in their lives and did not want to work for their necessities. But Michal Harrington knew the real reason why this so called "Other America" was the way they were, " But the real explanation of why the poor are where they are is that they made the mistake of being born to the wrong parents, in the wrong section of the country, in the wrong industry, or in the wrong racial or ethnic group ... [so] most of them would never even had had a chance to get out of the other America" (The Other
The current overwhelming dominance of the unprecedented modern American empire in the realm of world politics generally agreed upon by experts and scholars around the world. There is little to refute the argument that there is any state that comes close to the strength of the Americans in a vast number of areas, most notably economically and militarily. Present debate among experts in the field of international relations revolves around whether the Americans can maintain their primacy for upcoming generations. Robert Dujarric and William Odom, both experienced and respected scholars of international relations, declare in their 2004 work, “America’s Inadvertent Empire,” that America is in a solid position to keep a tight hold on its place at the top. Vividly explaining America’s path to dominance while emphasizing the current state of domination, the authors effectively present the abilities of the empire while also illustrating the potential threats that could bring it down.
Many Americans seem to be anxious about how the world perceives them, and are disturbed by what seems to be its declining image and position in many countries. Some wonder if the end is near for U.S. dominance or influence. The following are some quotations from recently published materials that are worth considering.
Whether this is with its unmatched military capabilities or economic strength, the global community is largely controlled and influenced by the actions America deploy. This itself is an exceptionally unique characteristic as no other country has ever had such an impact and influence on a global scale. Arguably, the world’s superpowers such as China and Russia also hold similar influence on the global stage but not to the same scale as America. For example, the 2007-2008 financial crisis in the United States also had an impact on most major developed economies, plunging them into deep recession (McKibbin and Stoeckel 2009, p.5). As the United States economy began to collapse, several other nations felt the negative pressure, often having to spend their own monies to stimulate their economy
Children of post war America are every one of those conceived in the United States somewhere around 1946 and 1964. As outlined in Figure 1, in the post–World War II period the General
The era of the 1990’s was an explosive time in American history both figuratively and literally. In the 90’s there was an extreme variety of different failures and also advances in technology. We as a nation had new advancements in space travel, our military and the way of life preparing for the turn of the century. As a country we didn’t know what the new millennium had to bring for us, but we were ready. Most significantly changing America though was from our creativeness that took place, the fear we had, and our militaristic ways.
The United States stands as an example of a sovereignty with a flourishing democracy and stands as an economic powerhouse. The countries’ quick rise to prominence can be attributed to the success of its industrial era. The mix of
Cordia’s basketball team deals with individuals from their community who were being rationally profiled. In the film “Us against the world” filmed by Mario Diaz, directed by Trent Cooper and Coury Deeb, reveals how the players were relocating from their homes to play basketball at Cordia. The players leaving their homes were trying to escape violence and dangerous neighborhoods. Cordia’s basketball team used basketball to uncover racial profiling in a racist community. Cordia High school is in Knott county in eastern Kentucky.
“America was conducting business as usual, but others were joining the game.” (Zakaria, 221). All this time we thought we were on top, we were actually slowly becoming less and less of leader and more a bystander as the rest of the world is slowly rising around us. Zakaria shows in that quote that as America has been continuing business like always, and because of this we have failed to realize our standing with the world around us. In the book The Post-American World, Zakaria shows us the challenges that America faces today. I believe the United States is most affected by our ignorance, competition, and worldly participation.
One can scarcely turn on the television, or the radio, or open up a web browser without the mention of Islamic terrorism or unrest around the world. Though the United States and the rest of the world may not be engaged in a protracted religious war, for radical Muslim fundamentalist they are. Bernard Lewis brings to light possible reasons for the issues facing the world dealing with Islamic terrorism. The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror explains these issues in historical context as well as how some of the actions professed in the name of Islam and claim to
In the book The Post-American World, by Fareed Zakaria, he spoke of the three economical shifts in the world throughout history. Each one of these shifts has changed the world drastically, with political, culture, and of course, economical differences in every country in the world. What Zakaria had brought to my attention very early in the book was that we are currently living through the third economical shift right now. To be honest, I had never really thought about where the world was heading, and if I hadn’t read this book, I would’ve thought that the United States would remain the main superpower in the world and the rest of the world would sort of stay at their current status. Poor countries would remain poor, and every developed country