A number of new books published in the United States describe these shifts in the political landscape. The new administration that arrives in Washington in 2009 ought to consider taking a close look at "The Post American World" by Fareed Zakaria, "The Second World" by Parag Khanna, "The Great Experiment" by Strobe Talbott, as well as "Rivals" by Bill Emmott and " The War for Wealth" by Gabor Steingart. Each of these authors accepts the premise of a multipolar world, though their analyses and policy prescriptions are vastly different. Bill Emmott, Fareed Zakaria, and Gabor Steingart imagine continued American or transatlantic leadership, while Parag Khanna sees a burgeoning competition between Europe, China, and the United States to win the favor of states like Russia and India, which he assigns to the "second world." Whatever their differences though, each of the authors takes a clear-eyed look at the realities of the present day -- unlike the neoconservatives who have been largely responsible for steering American foreign policy during the last eight years.
These countries are neither enemies of one another, nor are they friends; they are "frenemies," competitors for the world’s scarce resources. These countries assure their people that they can shape the coming global order and provide for their future welfare, but their respective visions of the future can differ greatly. A potential "clash of futures" looms on the horizon of the multipolar world.
Not all "frenemies" are democracies in the Western sense. The successes of Singapore and China, as well as of the Gulf states, prove that states need not be democratic to guarantee their people a high standard of living. But, that need not be cause for pessimism. Within the new nondemocratic world powers, productive elites are replacing parasitic elites. Where the former get the upper hand, they produce a system more free and just than the one they inherited. Their goal is to develop the economy and correct social inequalities. They know that where there are slums there will be "failing cities" and "failing states."
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