The Grand Chessboard
"Brzezinski delivers a vision for American preeminence in the twenty-first century. The task facing the United States, he argues, is to become the sole political arbiter in Eurasian lands and to prevent the emergence of any rival power threatening our material and diplomatic interests. The Eurasian landmass, home to the greatest part of the globe's population, natural resources, and economic activity, is the "grand chessboard" on which America's supremacy will be ratified and challenged in the years to come. In this landmark work of public policy and political science, Brzezinski outlines a groundbreaking and powerful blueprint for America's vital interests in the modern world. In a revised edition with a new epilogue, Brzezinski brings his seminal work up to date with commentary on the latest global developments, including the war in Ukraine, the re-emergence of Russia, and the rise of China."
Stats for nerds
7recommend
23mentions
20people
2013–2026years
39% recommend57% neutral4% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- We can debate the scale/scope/impact of the US's influence campaigns, but the outcomes are clear: they definitely contributed to souring US-Russian relations.
Here's why I consider this whole issue important, and it has very little to do with self-determination in Ukraine:
China is the greatest adversary the US has ever faced. Greater than the Soviet Union, IMO. We will need help from every major nation on the planet if we really intend to remain the hegemonic superpower. We had a narrow window circa 1999-2007 where we could have integrated an Authoritarian Russia into a security and economic framework that would put China in a vulnerable strategic position. We failed because we went full-bore on the ideological "Liberal democracy uber alles!" agenda, which was doomed to fail in Russia and has now wasted the monumental accomplishment of the Sino-Soviet Split. The Eurasian landmass is now dominated by China-Russia-Iran, three powers with internal lines of communication. Read Zbigniew Brzezinski's The Grand Chessboard, and what we've done is exactly how to LOSE the game.
https://www.cia.gov/library/abbottabad-compound/36/36669B789... Potentially, the most dangerous scenario would be a grand coalition of China, Russia, and perhaps Iran, an "antihegemonic" coalition united not by ideology but by complementary grievances. It would be reminiscent in scale and scope of the challenge once posed by the Sino-Soviet bloc, though this time China would likely be the leader and Russia the follower. Averting this contingency, however remote it may be, will require a display of U.S. geostrategic skill on the western, eastern, and southern perimeters of Eurasia simultaneously.
Well golly-gee-willikers, I daresay we've thoroughly punted that into the stands.
Note that ZBig goes on to prescribe solutions that I heavily disagree with. But he was able to cogently articulate the problem.
- In the fictional corner I must place the Nights Dawn Trilogy and Dune.
Other corners don't really have a best book, for me. Recently read 'Emperor of all maladies' and found it a fascinating journey through cancer, both as an illness and as a research subject.
Also recently read 'The Grand Chessboard' which was also fascinating for a completely different reason.
- > This is why a large portion of Americans could care less about the defense of Europe. No matter what we do, it's either wrong or not enough. Meanwhile, Europe spent the last few decades enjoying cheap Russian energy and neglecting its defense spending and then turned around and told the US that we don't do enough to stop Russia.
That comment comes off as surpisingly ignorant of the benefits that the US gets by having a buffer zone between it self on either side (Europe on it's eastern flank and the indo pacific on the western flank).
Your whole foreign policy revolves around keeping these areas armed and protected in cooperation with local governments in an effort of keeping conflict from reaching US shores (an evolution of the Monroe doctrine, which started back in the 19th century with keeping European conquest out of the immediate surroundings).
I would highly recommend picking up 'The Grand Chessboard[0]' by Zbigniew Brzezinski, former counselor to Presidents Lyndon B Johnson and Jimmy Carter. It is an excellent light read on the landscape in the mid 90's in regards to US foreign policy and national security. It even forshadows much that has happened recently.
It will truly fill in some gaps.
> Meanwhile, Europe spent the last few decades enjoying cheap Russian energy
Let us not forget that for a long time the US was hooked on foreign imported oil from the middle east, and even in 2021 Russian energy made up a total of 4% of the domestic US energy usage (up since Venezualian sources were not available as readily).
Please don't paint the US as some white knight that does what ever it can to please others on the world stage for altruistic reasons.
At worst it is disingenuous, and at best signals a massive ignorance of the world stage, history and the actors playing on it (again, highly recommend the book[0]).
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grand_Chessboard
edit: spelling.
- I suspect that one of the intentions of the tariffs is to spur domestic (American) production of goods that would otherwise be imported.[1] That said, I think they are having the add'l effect of pushing Europe (and others) toward China.
In response to Economist article's premise, what I generally hear is that the issue is not about whether they adopt democracy, but whether they accept a subservient role to the U.S. The term often used here (D.C.) is "little brother." Japan and S. Korea-- which started off as a pretty brutal dictatorship and today doesn't function as a free market/liberal economy) are cited as ideals.[2]
The funny thing is, while most people hype a coming military conflict w/China, a lot of folks here openly acknowledge that the Chinese are not interested in that. It's said that they aim to essentially secure themselves, but also depend on the U.S. that maintain much of its current role in the int'l order. The Chinese are not thought to be interested in becoming a global hegemon / world police.[3]
Anyway, I just came here to recommend a book, The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives.[4] Reading it now and find that it puts a lot of things in perspective.
[1] Fox Business News w/ Trump: https://youtu.be/K1qt6nQLoHI
[2] Chaebol: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaebol
[3] Military Challenges in the Asia Pacific (AEI): https://youtu.be/hp768euAi-E
- A book recommendation: The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives by Zbigniew Brzezinski [1]
- "The Grand Chessboard" by Zbigniew Brzezinski opened up my eyes to how countries think. It's a bit dry, but offers the kind of perspective that is normally missing from most people's everyday lives.
