The Choice: Global Domination or Global Leadership

Book Description

America must make a historic choice: Will it strive to dominate the world, or lead it?

American power and a pervasive globalization are the central realities of today's world, and the source of its most difficult dilemmas. America's historically unprecedented power is the ultimate source of global security, yet Americans feel less secure than ever. Global interdependence and the widespread political awakening of humankind promote American dominance even as they breed anti-American envy, mobilize global resentment, and empower America's enemies through the diffusion of ever more destructive technologies.

In The Choice, Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National Security Advisor to the president of the United States, reminds Americans that their preponderance should not be confused with omnipotence. America's well-being and the world's are entwined. Panicky preoccupation with solitary American security, an obsessively narrow focus on terrorism, and indifference to the concerns of a politically restless humanity neither enhance American security nor comport with the world's real need for American leadership. Unless it can harmonize its overwhelming power with its seductive but also unsettling social appeal, America could find itself alone and under assault in a setting of intensifying global chaos.

Brzezinski has been hailed by Samuel P. Huntington for his "clear-eyed, tough-minded...geostrategic thinking in the grand tradition of Bismarck" and by Paul Wolfowitz as one of the world's "most penetrating analysts of international affairs and...one of the leading practitioners of the art of strategy." In The Choice, he identifies America's crucial strategic imperative: America must be both guarantor of global security and promoter of the global common good.

Customer Reviews:

His Idea - Baby Steps - to Simplify His Theory of What to Do.......2006-07-17

I feel like I have been on an overdose of these books having read House of Bush, House of Saud by Craig Unger (excellent book) - the biggest tell all blockbuster, The Choice by Zbigniew Brzezinski, Disarming Iraq, by Hans Blix, Noam Chomsky's Hegemony of Survival, Thirty Days (about Tony Blair) by Peter Stothard, and Price of Loyalty, Paul O'Neill, Why America Slept by Gerald Posner, Against All Eneamies by Richard Clarke, and the Rise of the Vulcans by Mann and Mann. I put together a "listmania" list of the 25 best books - the best books - mainly non political, no strong bias conservative or liberal - a spectrum of opinion when you take them all together.

There is certainly a wide variety of views and all of these books are excellent. I have read and for the most part digested the views and ideas and I would strongly recommend any or all of these books to get a diverse view. One cannot begin to give these books justice in book reviews. In any case there are generally two types of books, i.e: the "gotcha" books which try to show how Bush has made errors or done something illegal such as the Craig Unger book, or the "solution books" like Brzezinski, Soros and Chomsky.

Of all the "best seller" books on the market I would consider this present book by Brzezinski to be one if not the best books that deals with terrorism, the invasion of Iraq, and the future role of the US. Perhaps not the most exciting read (I think Unger's book takes that title) but still this is an excellent book. In this book he is very diplomatic in his comments of the current administration and he presents many well thought out ideas on how to deal with the Muslim countries, American demographics, how the world views the US etc. In some of the other books by say Chomsky or Soros some of the ideas are in fact quite similar to Brzezinski. Here he is also against unilateral action but he manages to calm down the rhetoric plus he suggests that some sort of world government or similar is not realistic and is many generations off. So instead of say going to the UN and supporting the UN or World Court in any absolute way he suggests shorter term goals that are a combination of working much more closely with the Europeans and then expanding that relationship later in stages (my comment baby steps). Also he seems to advocate more support for the Muslim countries to permit them to develop economically and socially.

All in all a well thought out argument, it is well presented, and attempts to make the debate a little more rational.

mostly thoughtful.......2006-07-13

To frame the problem of U.S. grand strategy, Brzezinski emphasizes several frames of reference from which to consider the current dilemma. His emphasis is not only on strategic imperatives but also on the moral, cultural and historical situation.

The only problem I find with the writing is that Brzezinski tends to become diverted into dissections of many what-if type scenarios. This is fine for a strategic studies expert, however, some of these digressions are somewhat far-fetched. Altogether, its a quick read with some interesting insights into how the U.S. and the world might best proceed.

A New Brave Multi-Polar World.......2005-08-29

ZB brilliantly analyzes the choices in front of USA, in its dealings with the rest of the World and the kind of role and status it can achieve and risks and feasibility of various possible policies. He is characteristically far reaching, almost mathematically precise and complete.

Though he is objective and does not promote any particular ideology other than the balanced and realistic welfare of USA, he is after all a man of "Detante". Those "entangling alliences" and the beloved NATO template keeps coming to the forefront. He is no unilateralist. He makes us aware that unless the current emerging powers such as China and India feel secure, and their vital interests secured, there can not be peace and stability for anyone. I think he understands dynamics of "Great Powers" better than most, and that is the World we are moving back to after all. The great polarization of East and West blocs, and to some degree North and South, have dissolved and a new multi-polar World has been emerging. He seems to have dismissed altogether that infamous "clash of civilizations".

It is a good read. There is a unique piece of insight and wisdom in almost every page. Well delivered and smooth. Stands out among many similar works. Highly recommended.

The Future of Hegemony.......2005-06-19

Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National Security Advisor and resident hawk of the Carter Administration, agrues in this excellent book that America is faced with a choice: either lead the world or try to dominate it. The correct answer or course is the former, and the Bush Administration has chosen the latter. Brzezinski is one of the brightest geostrategic thinkers in the firmament, and he offers a very clear and systematic policy statement on which direction this country should be going to achieve national security.

In the era of globalization, especially after 9/11, the link between national sovereignty and national security has been broken. With the growing interdependence of nation-states, our national security is increasingly in the hands of others. It is true, as President Bush claimed in the election campaign 2004 that we do not need permission from others to protect our security; it is also true that we need the cooperation of others in order to have security.

On a couple of points Brzezinski is in agreement with President Bush. The primary threat to international security comes from rogue or illiberal states - called the "Global Balkans" - that lie between the Suez Canal and the Khyber Pass, a part of the world that contains most of the world's oil and natural gas. The region also contains some of the most religiously inflamed, politically turbulent, and ethnically conflicted people on earth.
And to make matters even worse, they are festering with terrorist and criminal groups searching for weapons of mass destruction. It is in the interest of the civilized and energy hungry world to maintain stability.

America is the preponderant but not omnipotent power. America cannot stabilize the Global Balkans alone, nor with "coalitions of the willing." Brzezinski has a special place in his heart for Europe; he sees a healthy transatlantic alliance as the bedrock of global security. Europe and America are natural allies through shared history and culture. As a team our moral authority and political credibility would be greatly enhanced.

Another point at which Brzezinski is in agreement with the Bush Administration is on the primacy of American military power. Europeans and other allies understand, though they don't openly acknowledge, that global security is underwritten by American power. Brzezinski differs with the administration on how this power should be used. America may have the capablity of overthrowing rogue regimes in a few days or weeks, nevertheless, it still needs to build consensus in order to win a war. If the excercise of military power is not done with legitimacy will fail and backfire. Operations in Iraq (a good outcome is still possible) were executed in such a way that they spawned more terrorist groups, and even emboldened Iran and North Korea to press ahead with nuclear weapons development.

It was even more important to build consensus in the invasion of Iraq because, as we know now, it was a preventative war ( a war of choice), not a preemptive war from some imminent threat. The war in Iraq has given us greater insecurity, not only because it created new terrorists groups, but because our moral authority has been greatly undermined.

The task that Brzezinski lays before the Bush Administration is daunting given the events that have take place. And the European Union, for its part, cannot even agree on a budget and or a constitution, let alone a coherent global security policy. Nevertheless, American hegemony must be a consensual hegemony, not a domineering one. Globalism has brought us more interdependence, and global security can only be achieved through cooperation.

Highly Recommended!.......2005-05-21

The geopolitical landscape evolves so fast that almost any book about global politics ages before the ink can dry. Zbigniew Brzezinski - known as one of the keenest students of American defense and diplomacy since his service in the Carter administration - urges European-American rapprochement over Iraq. He calls for a transition from a war against terrorism to a moral war for global equality and political representation, namely, democracy. No doubt due to unfortunate timing, his book does not account for recent democratic elections in the Middle East or for new transatlantic diplomatic initiatives. Regardless, he uses his laser-beam intellect to show convincingly how globalism, American geopolitical dominance and American cultural imperialism are interacting to create a perfect storm of misunderstanding that leaves Uncle Sam with a tough choice: how to react to terrorism without overreacting and causing U.S. isolation. He concludes that America can choose to lead or to dominate, but not both. We strongly recommend this book to students of globalism and the ongoing experiment of global democracy.

Book Description

The OSHA Management Certificate Program will certify your knowledge of OSHA compliance management while teaching you how to run an OSHA program and prevent injuries.

Surviving OSHA Inspections Manual and CD, Introductory But Comprehensive OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health) Training and Compliance for the Managers and Employees in a Worker Safety Program

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Surviving OSHA Inspections Manual and CD, Introductory But Comprehensive OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health) Training and Compliance for the Managers and Employees in a Worker Safety Program
Daniel Farb , and Bruce Gordon
Manufacturer: UniversityOfHealthCare
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Plastic Comb

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ASIN: 1932634932

Book Description

Surviving OSHA Inspections teaches you the best behavior and attitude for an OSHA inspection.

Book Description

Grasses and legumes have important commercial applications, forming the basis of the world's animal industry and playing a central role in recreation. It is essential that appropriate species and mixtures of species are developed on a commercial scale. This book and its companion volume on tropical and subtropical species provide the definitive resource for anyone concerned with developing grasses for use in grazing or recreation. They cover the full range of issues, from the seed industry's need for high yields to the animal industry's interest in high quality pastures. These practical volumes will be of equal value to commercial seed suppliers and researchers in agriculture and plant breeding. Each volume includes general techniques and detailed case studies.

Book Description

Drawing on four years of field research, the authors look at how farmers manage biological resources, crop and non-crop biodiversity, soil fertility, and transform the landscape through agricultural intensification in the Sahel region of Northern Nigeria.

Customer Reviews:

Working the Sahel.......2003-01-20

Mortimore, a British geographer with 28 years of residence in northern Nigeria and several books to his name, is an adept and rigorous practitioner of local-level cultural ecology. Bill Adams began his career examining the fate of Northern Nigeria's large irrigation schemes, and has since written extensively on conservation and sustainability questions. Working the Sahel emerged from a five year British-funded investigation into patterns of agricultural intensification and labor use in four sub-locations located on a transect of varying population density between Kano and the Nigeria-Niger border. This book subsumes some of Mortimore's long term datasets and archival material, permitting longitudinal evaluations.

Working the Sahel is a tightly focused research monograph. The key question it poses is how individual skills are exercised in "strategic and tactical" ways by households in Northern Nigeria, and how resource endowments are managed under varying population densities. The starting point is that constraints on farming activities can be distilled into four categories; rainfall, bioproductivity of plants and soil, labor, and the availability of capital. Labor constraints in Nigeria and elsewhere have been generally been relaxed as population densities rise, permitting some combination of intensification of agricultural production in-situ, economic diversification out of agriculture, and circular migration. Adaptation - a term much critiqued by anthropologists - is used quite sensibly here to describe the reflexive, longer term restructuring of Sahelian rural systems in the response to these four constraints. Both flexibility and adaptability are demanded of Sahelian farmers.

The core of the book concerns the day to day management of labor. In the four villages, high frequency time-budget observations by local researchers took place over four years, initially with the men, women and children of around 45 households. The study found that some labor inefficiencies are inevitable in dryland farming systems. Short cropping seasons in the drier villages concentrate labor demand; but since crop growth is dependent on rainfall, drought years can actually provoke labor surpluses. To maintain flexibility, therefore, labor is matched to resource endowments, and by switching between livelihood activities. Women and children make significant contributions to agricultural labor, that are greater in the drier and more extensive farming systems where Islamic seclusion is more relaxed.

A picture emerges of biodiversity maintained by cultivation practices, and only localized episodes of degradation, largely driven by precipitation fluctuations. In their view, "Nothing could be further from the scenario of reckless resource degradation which has been put about by some academics and development agencies" (p193). The book also argues farmers have already developed pathways to "indigenous intensification" (p97) in the drylands, where denied access to fertilizer.

Adaptive responses in the four villages include significant non-farm activities, since as Mortimore and Adams are at pains to stress, risk is spread through diversification. Impelled by economic factors, such as the instabilities generated by Nigeria's commodity booms and busts, and the recognition that animals offer investment opportunities, a pattern has emerged of "the more crops produced, the more livestock kept" (p132), in mixed farming systems. Private accumulation through petty trading in rural periodic markets is just part of a widely developed trading system, and markets also provide a wide range of social functions. Long distance migration, described much too briefly in the book, articulates with broader economic opportunity in regional hinterlands, and nationally.

The authors personalize some of these labor tradeoffs and decision-making processes by profiling six farmers, by means of activity charts and brief personal histories. These profiles highlight how and when households deploy their labor. The book concludes by stressing that agricultural development initiatives in the Sahel fail when they are reductionist, and ignore diversity and variability. There is a dig here at farming systems research, which has underpinned agronomic development programs in the Sahel, for its focus on efficiency criteria. Dryland farmers are not profit or efficiency maximizers, since "..'efficiency' would leave no room for flexible maneuver" (p192). The message for future development interventions is a simple one; big schemes won't work, and "the most impressive stories of development are those where a need for multiple choices, to suit a range of smallholder families, has been met, implicitly or explicitly, in the type of interventions and opportunities affecting rural households." (p191).

Politics receives too little discussion in the book, and is missing from the conceptual model used: it is only discussed as a starting point for the analysis of local farmer responses. Social and political conflict is downplayed, and not much is said about struggle and open resistance - and why such struggles (often gendered, or to do with resource access issues) might be necessary.
Nonetheless the insistence on rigorous comparative fieldwork in Working the Sahel is salutary. The authors remind us that smallholder agriculture is potentially productive, and environmentally benign, in parts of the world where the presence of globalized agricultural knowledge, pervasive development discourses, and far-reaching commodity markets is still fragmentary. To do this, the authors afford equal analytical weight to natural environments and to human activities. The book shows the real contribution that committed geographers can make to African agrarian and development studies.

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Working the Sahel: Environment and Society in Northern Nigeria.: An article from: The Geographical Journal
K. Swindell
Manufacturer: Royal Geographical Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B0008FCQD6
Release Date: 2005-07-30

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Geographical Journal, published by Royal Geographical Society on March 1, 2002. The length of the article is 614 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Working the Sahel: Environment and Society in Northern Nigeria.
Author: K. Swindell
Publication: The Geographical Journal (Refereed)
Date: March 1, 2002
Publisher: Royal Geographical Society
Volume: 168 Issue: 1 Page: 86(1)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

Sound advice for hockey players at all levels of play.

Total Hockey Conditioning is a comprehensive guide to conditioning that includes both theory and specific training programs for all age groups. Written for coaches, players, trainers, and conditioning specialists, this book explains how to increase strength, power, speed, energy, flexibility, and agility. By applying these principles, players will compete at a higher level while avoiding injuries and recovering more quickly from fatigue.

Key features of this book include:

On- and off-ice programs for all age groups
Power, speed and strength training
Quickness and flexibility training
Energy system training
Nutrition regimes including what to eat and drink before, during and after the game
Mental training including stress management

Detailed and highly informative, this book is illustrated with 450 tables, figures, and diagrams. Practical advice is provided for planning a year-round fitness program.

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Fun Info

The Big Book of American Trivia

Fun Book, Great for Car Trips

Man, this book is cool!

Good Clean Fun, Even the Political Stuff

The Big Book of American Trivia
J. Stephen Lang
Manufacturer: Tyndale House Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Trivia | Fun Facts | Reference | Subjects | Books
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Similar Items:

10,000 Answers: The Ultimate Trivia Encyclopedia

5087 Trivia Questions & Answers

World Trivia

The Original Trivia Treasury: 1,001 Questions for Competitive Play

1001 Dumbest Things Ever Said (1001)

ASIN: 0842383131

Book Description

It's an extravaganza of the trivia kind! Impress your friends (or stump them) with knowledge about all things American--geography, history, entertainment, people, culture, and quirky miscellany. More than 3,000 questions (and answers) provide countless hours of fun as you learn fascinating facts about our marvelous country. The Big Book of American Trivia is perfect for parties, family gatherings, and vacations. This is trivia and Americana at their best!

Customer Reviews:

Fun Info.......2006-03-07

I love all the trivia available in this book. A great price for a fun, fact filled book. The only drawback is the layout. It could be improved.

The Big Book of American Trivia.......2006-03-02

I use this book for work at a nursing home. I use it to ask trivia questions of residents. It has a good variety of trivia questions and lots of good hints.

Fun Book, Great for Car Trips.......2005-07-25

Call me old-fashioned, but we don't have a TV in our van, so our kids have to actually converse or play games on the road, and this book saw us through a long trip this summer around Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. The thing that makes the book fun is that it is (pardon the pun) all over the map, with series of questions about entertainment, politics, geography, food and drink, others too numerous to list. My kids and I just enjoyed skipping around from one section to another, quizzing each other. Whenever we crossed a state line we went to the section of the book that has a set of 20 questions for each state, which is a neat feature.

Man, this book is cool!.......2004-01-05

I received this book as a Christmas present. I am a very patriotic girl and
I want to be President someday, so I love it! There is a chapter on presidential history, so I dove in.
The chapters are:
1:For The Record
2:Let Us Entertain You
3:Our Love Affair With Music
4:Leisure Time, American Style
5:So Many Sights To See
6:Call Of The Wild
7:As A Memorial
8:The Finer Things:Authors, Artists, And Such
9:Hail To The Chief (my personal favorite)
10:Doing It By The Decades
11:American Potpourri
12:Ten Questions(About Each State)
13:Things Of The Spirit
Buy this book. You won't be sorry!

Good Clean Fun, Even the Political Stuff.......2002-10-07

I have been a history buff for years, and there are lots of great history questions here, but I also enjoyed the material about pop culture and food. Guess I knew more about pop music and movies than I did about the presidents! There is something here for everybody including kids. I really liked the final section, 20 questions about each oft he 50 states.

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Very entertaining trivia book
The trivia here is not new at all.
Great for a game show study!

Another Big Book of American Trivia
J. Stephen Lang
Manufacturer: Tyndale House Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Trivia | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

The Big Book of American Trivia

ASIN: 0842301550

Book Description

Trivia aficionado J. Stephen Lang brings us a second volume of intriguing information in Another Big Book of American Trivia. Invaluable for trivia addicts of all ages, the book has a question-and-answer format similar to his best-selling Complete Book of Bible Trivia and provides explanations for the answers as well. With over 3,000 questions about the U.S. and its culture, this book is sure to entertain as it educates.

Customer Reviews:

Very entertaining trivia book.......2000-03-24

This trivia book is very entertaining to read and the format is excellent. The author gives the questions on the front of each page, and the corresponding answers on the back of the same page. Very convenient.

The questions are interesting, informative and challenging without being too esoteric. An enjoyable read.

The trivia here is not new at all........1999-03-02

I found this book to be interesting and well researched, but hardley original. It contains the same trivia that many other presentations have stated over the years. So, at best, I can only give this rendering a average rating for trying, but not suceeding, to exite my trivia mind at all.

Great for a game show study!.......1998-02-04

I was trying out for a game show and was looking for some books to study from and wished this one had arrived in time for the test. It's perfect reading material for people who want to fill their brain with trivia!

Book Description

Scientists' understanding of two central problems in neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy has been greatly influenced by the work of David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel: (1) What is it to see? This relates to the machinery that underlies visual perception. (2) How do we acquire the brain's mechanisms for vision? This is the nature-nurture question as to whether the nerve connections responsible for vision are innate or whether they develop through experience in the early life of an animal or human. This is a book about the collaboration between Hubel and Wiesel, which began in 1958, lasted until about 1982, and led to a Nobel Prize in 1981. It opens with short autobiographies of both men, describes the state of the field when they started, and tells about the beginnings of their collaboration. It emphasizes the importance of various mentors in their lives, especially Stephen W. Kuffler, who opened up the field by studying the cat retina in 1950, and founded the department of neurobiology at Harvard Medical School, where most of their work was done. The main part of the book consists of Hubel and Wiesel's most important publications. Each reprinted paper is preceded by a foreword that tells how they went about the research, what the difficulties and the pleasures were, and whether they felt a paper was important and why. Each is also followed by an afterword describing how the paper was received and what developments have occurred since its publication. The reader learns things that are often absent from typical scientific publications, including whether the work was difficult, fun, personally rewarding, exhilarating, or just plain tedious. The book ends with a summing-up of the authors' view of the present state of the field. This is much more than a collection of reprinted papers. Above all it tells the story of an unusual scientific collaboration that was hugely enjoyable and served to transform an entire branch of neurobiology. It will appeal to neuroscientists, vision scientists, biologists, psychologists, physicists, historians of science, and to their students and trainees, at all levels from high school on, as well as anyone else who is interested in the scientific process.

Brain and Visual Perception: The Story of a 25-Year Collaboration.

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Brain and Visual Perception: The Story of a 25-Year Collaboration.
David H. Hubel
Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000M4L8UA

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Brain and Visual Perception: The Story of a 25-Year Collaboration
Torsten N. Wiesel David H. Hubel
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKL2BC

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