Reviews
"The Choice is a brilliantly argued, succinct yet penetrating analysis of
contemporary global politics and the American role in it. Brzezinski convincingly shows
that American security is inseparable from global security and can only be achieved by the
United States providing constructive leadership in the cooperative creation of world
order. Our political leaders need to read this book and absorb its wise advice."
Samuel P. Huntington
"Perhaps even the most
stubborn U.S. unilateralists would think twice if they read carefully the arguments put
forward by Professor Brzezinski in this indispensable book. Both experts and laymen
interested in crucial matters of American foreign policy will find The Choice illuminating
reading."
Ernesto Zedillo,
Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization and former president of Mexico
"In a fascinating and
important analysis of America's global strategy, Brzezinski makes a compelling case for
leadership through partnership and reminds us that inclusiveness, generosity and patience
are essential elements of national security."
Javier Solana,
High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (EU)
"The Choice presents
compelling arguments for transition to a network of alliances as a way to preserve
American leadership, stabilize the 'global Balkans,' avoid a clash of civilizations and
preserve stable balance in the Far East. It is unique in its clarity and grasp of our
strategic alternatives. This is the right book for this moment in world history."
Frank Carlucci,
former Secretary of Defense and Deputy Director of the CIA
"A brilliant analysis
of the state of global politics with sound advice for Americans and America's European
allies giving the transatlantic relationship and US leadership a new orientation and
relevance in a turbulent world."
Karl Kaiser, German Council on Foreign Relations, Berlin
"Carefully,
meticulously and ultimately irrefutably, Zbigniew Brzezinski has taken the dangerous and
shallow 'imperial theology' behind the war in Iraq and shown how its propagators are
attempting quite literally to transform American history. Do we want to remain the
traditional American 'city on a hill,' he asks, or will we sit idly by while America is
turned into an isolated and hostile 'fortress on a hill?' The Choice is 'must' reading for
anyone who cares about the future of America, and thus the future of the world."
Georgie Anne Geyer, syndicated columnist, Universal Press Syndicate, and author of
Guerrilla Prince, The Untold Story of Fidel Castro
"The grand illusion of
American political life is the belief that America will not have to make painful
adjustments to adapt to the new world (which has ironically been created by America). No
nation will be spared these pains of adjustment-not even America. The Choice is a
thoughtful piece of work which explains some of the decisions America will have to
take."
Kishore Mahbubani, author of Can Asians Think?
"No one understands the
interdependence of power and principle better than Zbigniew Brzezinski. The Choice is an
indisputable road map to the current geopolitical situation, and a guide on how America
must conduct herself to ensure peace and stability in the future."
Jimmy Carter
"The global cultural
transformation led by the United States could become a lonely and destabilizing crusade
without the experienced and creative counsel imparted to our foreign policy leadership by
Zbigniew Brzezinksi. I have listened to him, carefully, for twenty-five years."
Senator Richard G. Lugar, Chairman, U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee
"A perceptive overview
of the disorienting new strategic challenges America faces.... This book makes an
exemplary argument for the proposition that idealistic internationalism is "the
common-sense dictate of hard-nosed realism."
Publishers Weekly
This latest of high-concept
books on global politics by Jimmy Carter's national security advisor will obtain peak
attention in foreign policy and media circles as Brzezinski's pronouncement on American
strategy in a war-on-terror world.
Booklist
"Brzezinski, national
security adviser to President Jimmy Carter, has written one of the most important books on
U.S. foreign policy since September 11. Among the handful of practitioners who write
seriously and often about U.S. foreign policy, only Henry Kissinger can compare with
Brzezinski in terms of historical knowledge and imagination....for Democrats attempting to
assemble a serious and thoughtful alternative to Bush's foreign policy, The Choice is
indispensable."
Foreign Affairs
"Given his recent
acuity, Brzezinski's new book, The Choice, deserves careful attention. It is the work of a
demonstrably wise man who got it right when it counted, and whose views may now offer the
country some help in getting out of the woods into which it has wandered."
The Washington Pos
Description
The overwhelming reality of our time is this: In the opening years of the 21st century,
the United States finds itself not only the most powerful nation on earth but the most
powerful nation that has ever existed. Given the contradictory roles America plays in the
world, we are fated to be the catalyst for either a new global community or for global
chaos. If we don't lead, Zbigniew Brzezinski contends, rather than merely dominate by
force, we could face worldwide hostility much like the regional hostility now confronting
Israel.
Brzezinski argues for a more
complex and sophisticated view of our global role than much of our media and political
leadership are willing to entertain. We are the world's policeman, but we have to be seen
as a fair one. We are entitled to a higher level of security than other nations (because
we assume greater risks), but we are also the proponent of essential freedoms. We are
uniquely powerful, but our homeland is uniquely -and chronically-vulnerable.
"Globalization" precludes immunity for even the most powerful.
This is an impressively
lucid assessment, informed by decades of experience on the front lines of foreign policy,
of where we stand in the world and where we should go from here.
Biography
Zbigniew Brzezinski is currently a Counselor at the Center for Strategic and International
Studies and a professor of foreign policy at Johns Hopkins University. The National
Security Advisor under President Carter, he is the author of eight previous books,
including the national bestseller The Grand Failure and, most recently, The Grand
Chessboard, which was translated into nineteen languages. A Fellow of the American Academy
of Arts and Sciences since 1969, he lives in Washington, D.C.
242 pages