The Post-American World

Zakaria’s principal thesis is that as the global economy grows, power is spreading into more and more hands. This is ending the period of American hegemony, which has lasted since the end of the Cold War—or arguably since World War II, as the US economy was also vastly more powerful than that of the Soviet Union. This is partially due to American mistakes; the financial crisis of 2008 was an unequivocal example of financial recklessness that delegitimized decades’ worth of Wall Street orthodoxies. On the whole, however, it is a structural phenomenon reflecting broad historical trends. It is, in many respects, a logical follow-up to the era of American hegemony, which accelerated a process of globalization whereby the habits of capitalism, the English language, and shared modes of popular culture became universalized. Specific practices, like the free flow of capital across boundaries and aggressive efforts by central banks to combat inflation, helped to unleash the massive potential of developing economies. Once the West taught the rest of the world how to inhabit a “more open, connected, exacting international environment […] they […] also g[ave] countries everywhere fresh opportunities to start moving up the ladder of growth and prosperity” (28), therefore standing on their own without requiring support or instruction from the West.

Just as power is diffusing away from the traditionally dominant powers and moving toward rising nations such as China, India, South Africa, Brazil, and Indonesia, power is at the same time diffusing away from the state itself and moving toward a diverse set of actors. CEOs of multinational corporations, nongovernmental organizations, and even malignant actors like drug cartels and terrorist organizations can operate within a globalized world to advance their interests, while states are often restricted to their borders or citizens. Even a country like China, which maintains an autocratic system under the rule of the Communist Party, is more of an example of “decentralized development” where there is extensive cooperation between the capital and the provinces. China also makes itself open to foreign capital, knowing that it needs good relations with Western businesses to achieve national prosperity. The movement of power away from the state points to the need for extensive cooperation among state and non-state actors to tackle challenges such as climate change, which is itself the consequence of a globalized system. Zakaria is cautiously optimistic that the same forces that have brought about unprecedented prosperity for an unprecedented number of people can also mitigate its negative externalities and usher in a bright future.