What books is our President reading

[PixieStix]

Why is he reading this book?





[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Post-American-World-Fareed-Zakaria/dp/039306235X#reader"]Amazon.com: The Post-American World (9780393062359): Fareed Zakaria: Books[/ame]

An exerpt from the book

 

[PixieStix]

Looks like he is about halfway through it

 

[Si modo]

I believe that came out in the election. I don't mind that he is. I won't presume to know his motivations for reading it but mine would be that it is wise to know your enemies.

 

[Vel]

Why is he reading this book?





Amazon.com: The Post-American World (9780393062359): Fareed Zakaria: Books

An exerpt from the book

Maybe because he already finished that wonderful missive that Hugo Chavez gave him?

 

[Modbert]

From Publishers Weekly:

Starred Review. When a book proclaims that it is not about the decline of America but the rise of everyone else, readers might expect another diatribe about our dismal post-9/11 world. They are in for a pleasant surprise as Newsweek editor and popular pundit Zakaria (The Future of Freedom) delivers a stimulating, largely optimistic forecast of where the 21st century is heading. We are living in a peaceful era, he maintains; world violence peaked around 1990 and has plummeted to a record low. Burgeoning prosperity has spread to the developing world, raising standards of living in Brazil, India, China and Indonesia. Twenty years ago China discarded Soviet economics but not its politics, leading to a wildly effective, top-down, scorched-earth boom. Its political antithesis, India, also prospers while remaining a chaotic, inefficient democracy, as Indian elected officials are (generally) loathe to use the brutally efficient tactics that are the staple of Chinese governance. Paradoxically, India's greatest asset is its relative stability in the region; its officials take an unruly population for granted, while dissent produces paranoia in Chinese leaders. Zakaria predicts that despite its record of recent blunders at home and abroad, America will stay strong, buoyed by a stellar educational system and the influx of young immigrants, who give the U.S. a more youthful demographic than Europe and much of Asia whose workers support an increasing population of unproductive elderly. A lucid, thought-provoking appraisal of world affairs, this book will engage readers on both sides of the political spectrum. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The 6 guidelines that Zakaria talks about:

1.) Choose - Choose priorities rather than trying to have it all

2.) Build broad rules, not narrow interests - Recommit to international institutions and mechanisms

3.) Be Bismarck, not Britain - Maintain excellent relations with everyone, rather than offset and balance emerging powers

4.) Order à la carte - Address problems through a variety of different structures (e.g. sometimes UN, sometimes NATO, sometimes OAS)

5.) Think asymmetrically - Respond to problems (e.g. drug cartels, terrorists, etc.) proportionately and do not respond to bait (i.e. small attacks meant to draw attention)

6.) Legitimacy is power - Legitimacy allows the power to set agendas, define crises, and mobilize support

Sounds like an interesting book. More like a non-issue.

 

[elvis]

Why is he reading this book?





Amazon.com: The Post-American World (9780393062359): Fareed Zakaria: Books

An exerpt from the book

I take it he finished the Communist Manifesto?

 

[Polk]

I love how people judge books by the title, and don't actually look at the content. All the title means it that the position of the United States relative to other nations will not remain was it was in the immediate aftermath of the Cold War and that to some degree, global power will become more spread. That's an unsettling idea, but it's not really controversial.

Also, consider the writer. Zakaria backed Obama, but the guy is hardly a liberal. While he was studying at Yale, he was a member The Party of the Right in the Yale Political Union. While studying for his PhD at Harvard, one of his advisers was Samuel Huntington (the Clash of Civilizations guy).

 

[AllieBaba]

From Publishers Weekly:

Starred Review. When a book proclaims that it is not about the decline of America but the rise of everyone else, readers might expect another diatribe about our dismal post-9/11 world. They are in for a pleasant surprise as Newsweek editor and popular pundit Zakaria (The Future of Freedom) delivers a stimulating, largely optimistic forecast of where the 21st century is heading. We are living in a peaceful era, he maintains; world violence peaked around 1990 and has plummeted to a record low. Burgeoning prosperity has spread to the developing world, raising standards of living in Brazil, India, China and Indonesia. Twenty years ago China discarded Soviet economics but not its politics, leading to a wildly effective, top-down, scorched-earth boom. Its political antithesis, India, also prospers while remaining a chaotic, inefficient democracy, as Indian elected officials are (generally) loathe to use the brutally efficient tactics that are the staple of Chinese governance. Paradoxically, India's greatest asset is its relative stability in the region; its officials take an unruly population for granted, while dissent produces paranoia in Chinese leaders. Zakaria predicts that despite its record of recent blunders at home and abroad, America will stay strong, buoyed by a stellar educational system and the influx of young immigrants, who give the U.S. a more youthful demographic than Europe and much of Asia whose workers support an increasing population of unproductive elderly. A lucid, thought-provoking appraisal of world affairs, this book will engage readers on both sides of the political spectrum. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The 6 guidelines that Zakaria talks about:

1.) Choose - Choose priorities rather than trying to have it all

2.) Build broad rules, not narrow interests - Recommit to international institutions and mechanisms

3.) Be Bismarck, not Britain - Maintain excellent relations with everyone, rather than offset and balance emerging powers

4.) Order à la carte - Address problems through a variety of different structures (e.g. sometimes UN, sometimes NATO, sometimes OAS)

5.) Think asymmetrically - Respond to problems (e.g. drug cartels, terrorists, etc.) proportionately and do not respond to bait (i.e. small attacks meant to draw attention)

6.) Legitimacy is power - Legitimacy allows the power to set agendas, define crises, and mobilize support

Sounds like an interesting book. More like a non-issue.

Sounds like fucking communist bullshit to me. It's rationalizing dictatorship.

 

[Modbert]

Sounds like fucking communist bullshit to me. It's rationalizing dictatorship.

It sounds like politics to me. However, since you're talking out of your ass, you have no idea what Communism or a Dictatorship is anymore.

 

[AllieBaba]

Coming from you, that really means something, lol.

 

[AllieBaba]

6.) Legitimacy is power - Legitimacy allows the power to set agendas, define crises, and mobilize support

You understand what that means? It means if you feel yourself to be "right" it gives you the right to run down anyone in your way.

 

[Modbert]

6.) Legitimacy is power - Legitimacy allows the power to set agendas, define crises, and mobilize support

You understand what that means? It means if you feel yourself to be "right" it gives you the right to run down anyone in your way.

So George W. Bush was a Communist Dictator? As with Clinton, H.W Bush, Reagan, and so on?

If you can make something legitimate to the people, it makes them want it more. Legitimacy in a candidate or person allows them popular support, which in turns allows them to set the agenda, define a crisis, and mobilize support for a crisis.

It's no different from what Dubya did with the leadup to the Iraq War. Do you forget in your "old age" (heh) comments about the mushroom cloud, nuclear weapons, etc? And guess what? All bullshit!

However, they could weave quite the tale, and made it sound legitimate. Now, I would recommend staying out of this thread until you learn a couple more things. At least so you don't embarrass yourself.

 

[MaggieMae]

Why is he reading this book?





Amazon.com: The Post-American World (9780393062359): Fareed Zakaria: Books

An exerpt from the book

That's actually a feel-good book. There are too many people who now think the sky is falling on America, and he points out that is far, far from the case. He had a rather long excerpt in Newsweek, should anyone care to check it out rather than investing in the book.

The Rise of the Rest | Print Article | Newsweek.com

 

[MaggieMae]

Why is he reading this book?





Amazon.com: The Post-American World (9780393062359): Fareed Zakaria: Books

An exerpt from the book

Maybe because he already finished that wonderful missive that Hugo Chavez gave him?

Know thine enemies...

 

[MaggieMae]

From Publishers Weekly:

Starred Review. When a book proclaims that it is not about the decline of America but the rise of everyone else, readers might expect another diatribe about our dismal post-9/11 world. They are in for a pleasant surprise as Newsweek editor and popular pundit Zakaria (The Future of Freedom) delivers a stimulating, largely optimistic forecast of where the 21st century is heading. We are living in a peaceful era, he maintains; world violence peaked around 1990 and has plummeted to a record low. Burgeoning prosperity has spread to the developing world, raising standards of living in Brazil, India, China and Indonesia. Twenty years ago China discarded Soviet economics but not its politics, leading to a wildly effective, top-down, scorched-earth boom. Its political antithesis, India, also prospers while remaining a chaotic, inefficient democracy, as Indian elected officials are (generally) loathe to use the brutally efficient tactics that are the staple of Chinese governance. Paradoxically, India's greatest asset is its relative stability in the region; its officials take an unruly population for granted, while dissent produces paranoia in Chinese leaders. Zakaria predicts that despite its record of recent blunders at home and abroad, America will stay strong, buoyed by a stellar educational system and the influx of young immigrants, who give the U.S. a more youthful demographic than Europe and much of Asia whose workers support an increasing population of unproductive elderly. A lucid, thought-provoking appraisal of world affairs, this book will engage readers on both sides of the political spectrum. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The 6 guidelines that Zakaria talks about:

1.) Choose - Choose priorities rather than trying to have it all

2.) Build broad rules, not narrow interests - Recommit to international institutions and mechanisms

3.) Be Bismarck, not Britain - Maintain excellent relations with everyone, rather than offset and balance emerging powers

4.) Order à la carte - Address problems through a variety of different structures (e.g. sometimes UN, sometimes NATO, sometimes OAS)

5.) Think asymmetrically - Respond to problems (e.g. drug cartels, terrorists, etc.) proportionately and do not respond to bait (i.e. small attacks meant to draw attention)

6.) Legitimacy is power - Legitimacy allows the power to set agendas, define crises, and mobilize support

Sounds like an interesting book. More like a non-issue.

Sounds like fucking communist bullshit to me. It's rationalizing dictatorship.

Only uneducated, thus illiterate fools would think so.

 

[MaggieMae]

6.) Legitimacy is power - Legitimacy allows the power to set agendas, define crises, and mobilize support

You understand what that means? It means if you feel yourself to be "right" it gives you the right to run down anyone in your way.

No, genius, it means for example that China is now seen as a LEGITIMATE player since it has evolved into a quasi-capitalistic nation. Geezus grow a brain, then climb out of your cramped little box.

 

[AllieBaba]

Like most of what Obama says and does, it depends on how you read it. He counts on idiots like yourself to see it as civilized and evidence of his advanced brainpower.

It's excusing dictatorship. I got the highest score possible on the comprehension segment of my SAT, I understand English. Hate to disappoint you.

 

[AllieBaba]

".....Zakaria describes with equal prescience a world in which the United States will no longer dominate the global economy, orchestrate geopolitics, or overwhelm cultures. He sees the "rise of the rest"—the growth of countries like China, India, Brazil, Russia, and many others—as the great story of our time, and one that will reshape the world. The tallest buildings, biggest dams, largest-selling movies, and most advanced cell phones are all being built outside the United States. This economic growth is producing political confidence, national pride, and potentially international problems."
The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria

 

[AllieBaba]

That's a fabulous book for the president to be seen reading. Fantastic.

 

[Sinatra]

Zakaria has become increasingly irrelevant given his about face on issues in recent years. He was for the Iraq War then against it. He wants freedom brought to the Middle East but not the American version of it. He denounces radical Islam while making excuses for it...

Most recently he is attempting to refocus himself as a tangible voice within the liberal pool of political thought, but he is also smart enough to sense the sands of the American mood are shifting yet again, and look for Zakaria to move a bit with them.

He lacks credibility for the simple reason he wants so badly to be liked...