Superpower: Three Choices for America's Role in the World

by Ian Bremmer

Overview

Bestselling author and strategist Ian Bremmer argues that Washington’s directionless foreign policy has become expensive and dangerous. Since the end of the Cold War, the U.S. has stumbled from crisis to crisis in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Syria, and Ukraine with no clear strategy.

Bremmer urges us to think more deeply about what sort of role America should play and how it should use its superpower status. He explores three competing options:

• Independent America: America should no longer take responsibility for solving other people’s problems, and instead should lead by example.

• Moneyball America: Washington can’t meet every international challenge, but we can and should focus on opportunities and defend U.S. interests where they’re threatened.

• Indispensable America: Only America can defend the values on which global stability increasingly depends. We will never live in a stable world while others are denied their most basic freedoms.

There are sound arguments for and against each of these choices, but we must choose. Washington can no longer improvise a foreign policy without a lasting commitment to a coherent strategy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780143109709
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/06/2016
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	1,135,457
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

IAN BREMMER is the president and founder of Eurasia Group, the leading global political risk research and consulting firm. He has published nine books, including the national bestsellers The End of the Free Market and Every Nation for Itself. He lectures widely and writes a weekly foreign affairs column for Time magazine, where he’s editor at large. He lives in New York City.

Read an Excerpt

"I promise to tell you exactly what I believe and why I believe it. But this book is about what you think. Whether you’re an American or the proud citizen of another country, I want to know what role you believe the only superpower should play in our world. If you finish this book with a strong opinion, especially if it’s a bit different from the one you have at this moment, and even if it’s the opposite of mine, this book will have served its purpose."

Table of Contents

Preface xiii

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 Today's World and Tomorrow's 9

Chapter 2 Incoherent America 27

Chapter 3 Independent America 47

Chapter 4 Moneyball America 85

Chapter 5 Indispensable America 127

Chapter 6 Question Mark America 165

Conclusion 193

Acknowledgments 207

Notes 211

Index 225

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Praise for Ian Bremmer's The End of the Free Market:

“A fascinating book.”
—The Wall Street Journal

“[A] well-crafted, thought-provoking book.”
—The New York Times

Editorial Reviews

This brilliant and provocative book is required reading for every presidential candidate in 2016—and everyone who will cast a vote.”
—Nouriel Roubini, chairman of Roubini Global Economics

“Bremmer deals with America’s role in a world in transition with honesty and sincerity. This is a valuable contribution to an important debate from an experienced and insightful leader.”
—Jeffrey R. Immelt, chairman and CEO of GE

“Superpower is an insightful and original piece of work—drawing on Bremmer’s remarkable understanding of politics, America, and the world. This is a must read for all those concerned with the twenty-first-century geopolitical landscape.”
—Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund

“This book provides a clear and incisive way to think about America’s role in the world. Should it focus on its interests, its values, or its domestic needs? Bremmer offers his own opinions, but more important, he will help you sharpen your own.”
—Walter Isaacson, president and CEO of the Aspen Institute; bestselling author of Steve Jobs and The Innovators

"Superpower is a creatively organized and critically important book: Bremmer challenges Americans to hvae a difficult but increasingly inescapable conversation about the role they wish their country to play in world affairs, and he objectively gives them the facts and considerations they need to do so intelligently."
—The Times Literary Supplement

From the Publisher