The Post-American World Author: Fareed Zakaria ASIN: 039306235X Binding: Hardcover List price: $25.95 USD Amazon price: $14.27 USD

This is possibly the most important Globalization book that I have read since The World Is Flat. The key points that I appreciated most were as follows:

1. Post-America doesn't mean that America will fall. It is the only super power left and no single or league of nations can out fight us militarily speaking. However, emerging economies are positioning themselves to lead us in many key economic areas. America isn't necessarily growing weaker as much as the rest of the World is getting stronger. Zakaria calls this the "rise of the rest".

2. The two most important emerging economies are India and China. They both are proving to be formidable competitors and at the same time they might also be the United States most important relationship to ensure future American leadership and prosperity.

3. America dominates University quality. This means that the U.S. leads the world with innovation, research, entrepreneurialism, and training of experts in programmers, engineers, scientists, and many other valuable innovation oriented experts.

4. Even though China and India are becoming major contributors to the world's intellectual capital (expert innovators), they can't educate them nearly as well as top American universities. The important role America has is in Innovation and a head start in research in key fields of study. Specifically, America is fifty-years ahead of the rest of the world in Nano and Bio-Technologies.

These key insights are mind opening about what America means currently and what it will mean in the future to the world. I think the most impactful part of the book to my personal ideology has to do with diplomacy vs. military force. Prior to this book I have taken a very "Hawkish" position on America and International threats to American interests. Zakaria effectively persuades me that the most competitive America will be one that wins the hearts of the emerging economies. Zakaria argues for the "Open Society" that America has always had. He reminds America about its history as a country which the entire world loved and trusted. The trust of the world is what has given it such a competitive advantage in the most important areas guiding America's future. If America "closes" and maintains a unilateral "Hawkish" position because of the minor threat terrorism has, then, America will lose this trust and will be very difficult to rebuild it.