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

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

America will remain the worldâ€™s only superpower for the foreseeable future. But what sort of superpower? What role should America play in the world?Â What role do you want America to play?

Ian Bremmer argues that Washingtonâ€™s directionless foreign policy has become prohibitively expensive and increasingly dangerous. Since the end of the Cold War, U.S. policymakers have stumbled from crisis to crisis in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Syria, and Ukraine without a clear strategy. Ordinary Americans too often base their foreign policy choices on allegiance or opposition to the party in power. We can no longer afford this complacency, especially now that both parties are deeply divided about Americaâ€™s role in the world. The next presidential election could easily pit an interventionist Democrat against an isolationist Republicanâ€”or the exact opposite.

As 2016 rapidly approaches, Bremmer urges every American to think more deeply about what sort of country America should be and how it should use its superpower status. He explores three options:

Independent America asserts that itâ€™s time for America to declare independence from the responsibility to solve other peopleâ€™s problems. Instead, Americans should lead by exampleâ€”in part, by investing in the countryâ€™s vast untapped potential.

Moneyball America acknowledges that Washington canâ€™t meet every international challenge. With a clear-eyed assessment of U.S. strengths and limitations, we must look beyond empty arguments over exceptionalism and American values. The priorities must be to focus on opportunities and to defend U.S. interests where theyâ€™re threatened.

Indispensable America argues that only America can defend the values on which global stability increasingly depends. In todayâ€™s interdependent, hyperconnected world, a turn inward would undermine Americaâ€™s own security and prosperity. We will never live in a stable world while others are denied their most basic freedomsâ€”from China to Russia to the Middle East and beyond.

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.

As Bremmer notes, â€œWhen I began writing this book, I didnâ€™t know which of these three choices I would favor. Itâ€™s easy to be swayed by pundits and politicians with a story to sell or an ax to grind. My attempt to make the most honest and forceful case I could make for each of these three arguments helped me understand what I believe and why I believe it. I hope it will do the same for you. I donâ€™t ask you to agree with me. I ask only that you choose.â€
Country USA
Manufacturer Portfolio
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2015-05-19
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Portfolio
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2015-05-19
Format	Kindle eBook

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

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