The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives

by Zbigniew Brzeziński

Book Overview

Bestselling author and eminent foreign policy scholar Zbigniew Brzezinski's classic book on American's strategic mission in the modern world.
In The Grand Chessboard, renowned geostrategist Zbigniew Brzezinski delivers a brutally honest and provocative 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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 046509435X
• ISBN13: 9780465094356
• Release Date: December 2016
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Brzenzinski's Blueprint for US domninance - follwe to the T by Bush

Everyone should read this book. In the late 90's Brzenzinski gave his plan for how the US should dominate the world. Bush has followed it to a T. Interesting - Democrats plan - Republicans execution. Fantastic that all the news sources have pretty much given it a pass. B explains that to get the US people to attack middle asia - which he feels we must - it will take a Perl Harbor class event. He also explains why it is necessary to dislodge governments friendly to Russia from the countries near russia. Read it and think

A Spine Chilling prediction of present circumstances.

Like others offering their reviews, I rate this book very highly not because it is a real "page turner" or is particularly well written, but because of its cold Machiavellian analysis of the need to protect and expand the American Empire and what that means to the ordinary Joe and Jane Citizen. Three things in this book made my blood run ice cold. The first is the complete absense of any sense of morality in the whole discussion. I do not mean that this is an *im*moral book, it is not a moral book, it is *a*moral in that there is literally no discussion whatsoever whether what is being proposed is RIGHT or should be done. That the recomendations to grow the American Empire are valid is simply assumed, not proven or even argued. The second thing was the whole discussion on how the political center of mass was Central Eurasia (i.e. the region between Turkey and Pakistan and between Iran and Turkmenistan) and how unlikely it was that we were going to be able to have a substantial presence in the region (in the near term) unless we have SOME PERL HARBOR CLASS EVENT to accelerate the populations willingness to accept the costs. Also, This Was Bad because it would delay our needed expansion. Then, just on cue, we have the 9/11 attacks, and dang if we don't end up with a Whole Bunch of military presence all throughout the heart of Eurasia... Coincidence? Makes one wonder. As if that is not enough, the book closes with a clear and unambiguous reference to the steps needed to get us to the One World Government of the New World Order. Read it and weep because, as another reviewer stated, he is not predicting the future, he is *planning* the future. Coldly. Methodically.

Eerily Prescient

The title reveals so much. It is eerie to think of the world being carved up by select global geopolitical thinkers, political leaders and corporate giants. Here is a book with basic premises which one can strongly disagree, but still regard it as indispensable, hence the 5-star review I have provided while finding so much of the message conveyed as abhorrent to democratic principles.The author, it will be remembered, was the architect of President Carter's policy of aiding rebels opposing the Soviet friendly regime in Afghanistan in 1979. As National Security Adviser, the Polish expatriate believed that the ingredients were present to help establish a Russian Vietnam. With the aid of Stinger missiles and subsequent strong support from the Reagan Administration in the eighties the Russians were defeated. One can see in retrospect, however, why the Soviet leadership opposed the creation of a dangerously extremist Islamic fundamentalist regime on its border. None other than Osama Bin Laden was used as a CIA operative assting this profound change, which resulted ultimately in the Taliban, oppression, and continuing conflict. In retrospect, this American move was anything but a brilliant initiative.The most shocking part of this book is the author's blunt statement that what the U.S. truly needs to awaken public opinion and lead to the kind of initiative to seize control of oil rich territory he deems necessary is a calamitous attack on the order of a Pearl Harbor. This came about with 9-11, which occurred after this book was published. For many years spokespersons of the left and right were derided for a panic mentality and in some instances paranoia for daring to impart the conspiracy element into world politics. The author is a definitive insider connected to the Council on Foreign Relations. The statements made in this book corroborate conspiracy fears as the world is approached and analyzed with scant disregard for the citizenry with a strong emphasis on the planners, the global activists who are prepared to move on the scene and determine the future. These individuals do not appear to be concerned about listening to public opinion, but are concerned about shaping it to fit their pre-conceived images of global necessity.

A chilling account of Roman-style imperialism

This is how Brzezinski views the (supposedly sovereign) nations of Central Asia:"The last decade of the twentieth century has witnessed a tectonic shift in world affairs. For the first time ever, a non-Eurasian power has emerged not only as a key arbiter of Eurasian power relations but also as the world's paramount power. The defeat and collapse of the Soviet Union was the final step in the rapid ascendance of a Western Hemisphere power, the United States, as the sole and, indeed, the first truly global power..." "Two basic steps are thus required: first, to identify the geostrategically dynamic Eurasian states that have the power to cause a potentially important shift in the international distribution of power and to decipher the central external goals of their respective political elites and the likely consequences of their seeking to attain them;... second, to formulate specific U.S. policies to offset, co-opt, and/or control the above..." (p. 40) - "...To put it in a terminology that harkens back to the more brutal age of ancient empires, the three grand imperatives of imperial geostrategy are to prevent collusion and maintain security dependence among the vassals, to keep tributaries pliant and protected, and to keep the barbarians from coming together." (p.40) - "Henceforth, the United States may have to determine how to cope with regional coalitions that seek to push America out of Eurasia, thereby threatening America's status as a global power." (p.55) - "America is now the only global superpower, and Eurasia is the globe's central arena. Hence, what happens to the distribution of power on the Eurasian continent will be of decisive importance to America's global primacy and to America's historical legacy." (p.194) - "That puts a premium on maneuver and manipulation in order to prevent the emergence of a hostile coalition that could eventually seek to challenge America's primacy..." (p. 198) - "The most immediate task is to make certain that no state or combination of states gains the capacity to expel the United States from Eurasia or even to diminish significantly its decisive arbitration role." (p. 198) - "For Pakistan, the primary interest is to gain Geostrategic depth through political influence in Afghanistan - and to deny to Iran the exercise of such influence in Afghanistan and Tajikistan - and to benefit eventually from any pipeline construction linking Central Asia with the Arabian Sea." (p.139)And ponder the meaning of these statements in a post-9-11 world: - "Moreover, as America becomes an increasingly multi-cultural society, it may find it more difficult to fashion a consensus on foreign policy issues, except in the circumstance of a truly massive and widely perceived direct external threat." (p. 211) - "The attitude of the American public toward the external projection of American power has been much more ambivalent. The public supported Ame

America's Master of Strategy on Eurasian Center of Gravity

Anyone concerned with America's national security should be reading this book. The fact that it is four years old (older if one considers the intellectual gestation period), simply adds historical proof that its author is, as the Chinese have noted publicly, America's greatest strategist. This book is written in plain English. That alone sets it apart from the next level down. This is a carefully presented essay that makes eminent sense. It deals with the most important region in the world: the troubled Eurasian land mass. Rich in resources, rife with ethnic conflict and water scarcity issues, it is surrounded by major powers with global ambitions: France and Germany to the West, Russia to the North, China to East, and Iran and Turkey to the South. A number of clearly presented maps add considerable value to the book. With a level of calm and reason that is rare in books of this sort, Brzezinski provides an understandable yet sophisticated articulation of a real-world "grand strategy" essential to the future of America in this new century. His strategic vision honors both France and Germany as co-equal and vital elements of a new European community; shows how the larger Europe (ultimately co-equal to America) is essential to the salvation of Russia; makes the case for an American-Chinese strategic accommodation as the anchor for America's involvement in Eurasia; carefully integrates America's direct and special relations with Japan, Korea, and India as the bowl beneath China and Eurasia, and then concludes with decisive evaluations of the future importance of drawing Turkey into the European community while encouraging Iranian-Turkish collaboration and Iranian commercial and commodities channels from Eurasia out to the world. In passing, the author validates Australia's new strategy of working closely with Indonesia to resolve the latter's many ethnic issues while establishing a southern line against excessive Chinese influence in the region. There are numerous subtle and deep insights throughout the book, from the observation that war may now be a luxury only the poorest of nations can afford, to why China should consider America its natural ally and why Russia is at risk of becoming genetically Asian instead of European within a generation or two. The author proposes a new Trans-Eurasian Security System (TESS) that engages Russia, China, Japan and America-one would assume that at some point Turkey, Iran, and the new Europe would be included. The author gores a number a sacred oxen, including those associated with the demonization of Iran (this should end) and the exaggeration of China as a global threat (it will at best be a regional super-power at the high end of Third World per capita earnings). While other poor Nations have defeated America decisively (Viet-Nam, for example), the author deliberately itemizes China's 3 million men under arms, it's 9,400 tanks and 5,224 fighters, as well as its 57 surface ships and 53 submari