Brzezinski, national security adviser to President Jimmy Carter, has written one of the most important books on U.S. foreign policy since September 11. Among the handful of practitioners who write seriously and often about U.S. foreign policy, only Henry Kissinger (another import) can compare with Brzezinski in terms of historical knowledge and imagination. When it comes to what might be called the "philosophy" of foreign policy -- the relationship of U.S. power and policy to broader historical and cultural trends -- no statesman of Brzezinski's generation is in his league. And no Democrat of any age can match Brzezinski's grasp of the national interest and its sometimes difficult relationship to the values of liberal society. "The Choice" shows these talents hard at work. Brzezinski takes readers on a tour d'horizon of U.S. foreign policy, discusses the inevitable contradictions and tensions that enmesh a democratic society that is also a global hegemon, criticizes the Bush administration, and articulates his own vision of the way forward -- all in a little over 200 pages. Even those who do not accept Brzezinski's critique of the Bush administration will admire the sagacity of his views; for Democrats attempting to assemble a serious and thoughtful alternative to Bush's foreign policy, "The Choice" is indispensable.
from Amazon:
From Publishers Weekly
Brzezinski, President Carter's national security adviser and the author of The Grand Chessboard, has written a perceptive overview of the disorienting new strategic challenges America faces. Though couched in the sober, nuanced language of policymaking, the book amounts to a point-by-point rebuttal of the Bush doctrine. Brzezinski criticizes what he casts as the administration's rejection of a binding alliance system in favor of ad hoc coalitions, its advocacy of preemptive war, and its refusal to address terrorism's root causes. The underlying problem, says Brzezinski, is turmoil in the "Greater Balkans," the largely Muslim southern rim of central Eurasia. While not ruling out unilateral action by America, Brzezinski believes the ultimate solution to the region's problems involves the slow expansion of the trans-Atlantic zone of prosperity and cooperative institutions. Al-Qaeda's brand of Islamic fundamentalism is in decline, he says, but "Islamist populism," its more pragmatic relation, could cause localized instability. To promote a modernizing impulse in the Muslim world, Brzezinski recommends engagement with Iran, peacemaking in the Middle East and Kashmir, and a regional nuclear nonproliferation pact. In his survey of other security threats, Brzezinski says that as China's economy grows and Japan drifts toward remilitarization, America should help build an equivalent to NATO for the Pacific. Brzezinski warns that globalization's reputation as disruptive, undemocratic and unfair could provoke a virulent anti-American ideology. To avoid becoming a "garrison state," America must establish a "co-optive hegemony," leading a "global community of shared interests." This book makes an exemplary argument for the proposition that idealistic internationalism is "the common-sense dictate of hard-nosed realism." Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
This latest of high-concept books on global politics by Jimmy Carter's national security advisor will obtain peak attention in foreign policy and media circles as Brzezinski's pronouncement on American strategy in a war-on-terror world. His perspective extends out about two decades, a generation-long span that is not coincidental to the author's framing theme: how current foreign youths perceptions of the U.S. will redound fundamentally upon this country's security. An underlying "dialectic," Brzezinski argues, will affect that perception: U.S. government international policies tend to uphold stability, while the global influence of American society and culture is profoundly, seductively disruptive. On the proposition that resentment of American culture finds expression in criticism of U.S. policies, Brzezinski proposes approaches to allay anti-American hostility. They flow out of his articulate survey of attitudes in Europe, the "global Balkans" (as he denotes southern Asia), Russia, China, and Japan. For those disconcerted by current events, Brzezinski's proposals represent an alternative to George W. Bush's weltanshauung. Gilbert Taylor Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
www.amazon.com/Choice-Glo...oks&qid=1206398568&sr=1-3