ISBN: Ostalo
Godina izdanja: 2007
Jezik: Engleski
Autor: Strani

Second Chance: Three Presidents and the Crisis of American Superpower Hardcover – March 5, 2007
by Zbigniew Brzezinski

America`s most distinguished commentator on foreign policy, former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, offers a reasoned but unsparing assessment of the last three presidential administrations` foreign policy. Though spanning less than two decades, these administrations cover a vitally important turning point in world history: the period in which the United States, having emerged from the Cold War with unprecedented power and prestige, managed to squander both in a remarkably short time. This is a tale of decline: from the competent but conventional thinking of the first Bush administration, to the well-intentioned self-indulgence of the Clinton administration, to the mortgaging of America`s future by the “suicidal statecraft” of the second Bush administration. Brzezinski concludes with a chapter on how America can regain its lost prestige. This scholarly yet highly opinionated book is sure to be both controversial and influential.

Author Zbigniew Brzezinski
Language English
Subject United States -- Foreign relations -- 1989-
Publisher Basic Books
Publication date May 5, 2007
Media type Print (Hardcover)
Pages 240 pp (first edition)
ISBN 0-465-00252-8
OCLC 76871416
Dewey Decimal 327.73 22
LC Class JZ1480 .B69 2007

Second Chance: Three Presidents and the Crisis of American Superpower is a 2007 book by Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was President Carter`s National Security advisor and a scholar of American foreign policy as a professor at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. The book discusses the 15 years of American foreign policy where the U.S., emerging as the `victor` in the Cold War, has been the lone `superpower.` Brzezinski writes about how United States presidents George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush have demonstrated leadership and wielded power throughout a decade and a half as the leaders of a virtually unchallenged world power.[1][2][3][4][5]

Synopsis
Brzezinski sets the book up by giving his history of the Cold War, and how it was a combination of presidents, not just Ronald Reagan, and international events that lead to the demise of the Soviet system. He describes the two emerging views of the world as the `Globalization` view and the `Neoconservative` view. In each of the next three chapters, he describes the president, his foreign policy team, and the events and people which shaped that president`s foreign policy. He focuses on three main factors, the `Atlantic Alliance,` nuclear non-proliferation, and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, but discusses other foreign policy issues (e.g. the environment, emerging South American nationalism, and the rise of China and India).

In the middle three chapters, `The Original Sin` (Bush I), `The Impotence of Good Intentions` (Clinton), and `Catastrophic Leadership` (Bush II), he compares the presidents and the decisions made or not made by their foreign policy teams. He is equally critical of Bush I and Clinton and rates them nearly the same, but with different strengths and weaknesses. He is harshest on the Bush II administration, particularly with regard to its treatment of the Atlantic Alliance, the Middle East, and the environment.

In the chapter titled `After 2008,` Dr. Brzezinski suggests the next president must strengthen the Atlantic Alliance; reform lobbying; demonstrate leadership in the Middle East, particularly with regard to Israel/Palestine; foster consensus on the environment; and formulate a better strategy with regard to the emergence of China both as a world power and a force in the Middle East. He warns that America will have a second chance after 2008, but there definitely won`t be a third chance.

Refences
David, Steven R. (2007). `Reviewed work: Second Chance: Three Presidents and the Crisis of American Superpower, Zbigniew Brzezinski`. Political Science Quarterly. 122 (4): 658–660. doi:10.1002/j.1538-165X.2007.tb01678.x. JSTOR 20202932.
Mead, Walter Russell (2007). `Reviewed work: Second Chance: Three Presidents and the Crisis of American Superpower, Zbigniew Brzezinksi`. Foreign Affairs. 86 (3): 146. JSTOR 20032372.
Birch, John (2007). `Reviewed work: Second Chance: Three Presidents and the Crisis of American Superpower, Zbigniew Brzezinski`. International Affairs. 83 (4): 830. JSTOR 4541851.
Guerlain, Pierre (2007). `Reviewed work: Second Chance: Three Presidents and the Crisis of American Superpower, Zbigniew BREZINSKI`. Revue Française d`études Américaines (113): 113–114. JSTOR 20875767.
Rivkin, David B.; Ramos-Mrosovsky, Carlos (2008). `Unsage Advice`. The National Interest (95): 77–85. JSTOR 42896162.