Posted by
colorado springs citizen on Monday, May 26, 2008 10:57:16 AM
In his new and important book, The Post-American World, Zakaria
persuasively develops the idea that the “world has moved on from
anti-Americanism to post Americanism”. This is a world in which the
United States still largely matters, but where much of the global
actions and enterprises can be carried out independently of it. Here is
an informative catalogue. The largest building of the world is in
Taipei (Taiwan) and will be soon dethroned by the giant tower of Dubai.
The greatest public company sits in Beijing. The world’s largest
refinery is being constructed in India. The largest airliner is now
European. The chief investment funds are concentrated in Abu Dhabi. The
number one movie industry is located at Bollywood, not in Hollywood. If
one believes Zakaria’s theory, the opening of the “rest of the world”
ushers in the third fundamental change of the modern period. The first
took place around the fifteenth century, leading the way with
technological advance to the industrial revolution and capitalism. The
second, which occurred at the nineteenth century, marked the apex of
the United States, domination without any equivalent in History. If
this reasoning is sound, then America is now poised to enter the era of
the partnership with the “rest of the world”.