Sunday, May 04, 2008

The Rise of the Rest

Do you agree with this?

Is America done as the world power?

Has the rest of the world caught up to us?

If so, why?

If not, why?

Posted by The Game at 10:22 PM

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

zakaria is a terrific writer. i've read one of his books and many of his essays.

i hope everyone who reads this blog, will take a few minutes to read the article you've linked to.

May 04, 2008 11:09 PM
Anonymous said...

Some excerpts:

"But as I've traveled in the Middle East over the last few years, I've been struck by how little Iraq's troubles have destabilized the region. Everywhere you go, people angrily denounce American foreign policy. But most Middle Eastern countries are booming. Iraq's neighbors—Turkey, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia—are enjoying unprecedented prosperity. The Gulf states are busy modernizing their economies and societies, asking the Louvre, New York University, and Cornell Medical School to set up remote branches in the desert. There's little evidence of chaos, instability, and rampant Islamic fundamentalism [emphasis added]."

"Some point to the dangers posed by countries like Iran. These rogue states present real problems, but look at them in context. The American economy is 68 times the size of Iran's. Its military budget is 110 times that of the mullahs. Were Iran to attain a nuclear capacity, it would complicate the geopolitics of the Middle East. But none of the problems we face compare with the dangers posed by a rising Germany in the first half of the 20th century or an expansionist Soviet Union in the second half. Those were great global powers bent on world domination. If this is 1938, as some neoconservatives tell us, then Iran is Romania, not Germany."

May 05, 2008 11:11 PM
Anonymous said...

Notihng is permanent - it's the nature of this world/life. All the super powers have gone down.

And, remember Zakaria is from India and he can see how his own home country has transformed into an economic giant.

May 06, 2008 2:02 AM
jhbowden said...

Zakaria is one the few thoughtful liberals left.

His recent criticism of McCain is also justified -- we get no benefit from antagonizing Russia and China when weapons proliferation among jihadis is a larger issue. If anything, we need Russia and China's cooperation.

Clinton's foreign policy was experienced and reasonable, but that isn't going to be on the menu this election. Instead we get to choose from Yosemite Sam and Mohandas Gandhi.

I'd rather have a player that dunks on opponents risking an offensive foul than one that doesn't play defense at all. Of course, why dunk when you can take the easy lay-up?

May 07, 2008 6:29 PM
jhbowden said...

Zakaria does err though about Iran's intent. The Preamble of the Iranian Constitution itself hopes "that this century will witness the establishment of a universal holy government and the downfall of all others."

Iran historically has no problem with mass martyrdom of its citizens, has publically declared its intent to incinerate Israel, and wouldn't need to seek out proxies like the Party of God -- Iran already arms them.

What frightens me is that Baraq Hussein Obama says he wants to talk if Iran incinerated Tel Aviv and Haifa, and criticized the Clinton when she said she would obliterate Iran in that circumstance. This unreason only makes sense when you consider where Obama's allegiance resides.

Like the Democrat trolls on this blog, perhaps Herr Obama thinks the Jews have it coming.

May 07, 2008 9:30 PM
Anonymous said...

I read his essay in Newsweek.

I don't know if America is in decline, yet.

And I don't think he does either.

I do remember the big scare about how Japan was going to rule the world in the 80s. We all saw how that turned out.

And hell, I'd like to see how the rest of the world likes having China run things for a while. They might not be so pleasantly surprised.

May 08, 2008 9:56 AM

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