2008-08-01 A compelling analysis of the potential (likely?) shifts in geopolitics in the 21st Century

The previous reviewer's skepticism, grounded in the fact that this book is sold in airport bookshops, is unfounded. Whilst Zakaria's arguments are not groundbreaking, he does offer a compelling account of what the future may hold. Differential rates of growth across the world (described pithily as 'the rise of the rest', as well as the shift away from the nation-state as the sole political actor, will probably see a fundamental change in the international order. This will be a slow, gradual process, and perhaps calling the product a 'post-American world' is going too far (although it is the best formulation yet, in my opinion, for the not quite uni-polar, not quite multi-polar world which is emerging). Nonetheless, for those interested in international relations and current affairs, this book is well worth reading.