America must make a historic choice: Will it strive to dominate the world, or lead it?

American power and a pervasive globalization are the central realities of today's world, and the source of its most difficult dilemmas. America's historically unprecedented power is the ultimate source of global security, yet Americans feel less secure than ever. Global interdependence and the widespread political awakening of humankind promote American dominance even as they breed anti-American envy, mobilize global resentment, and empower America's enemies through the diffusion of ever more destructive technologies.

In The Choice, Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National Security Advisor to the president of the United States, reminds Americans that their preponderance should not be confused with omnipotence. America's well-being and the world's are entwined. Panicky preoccupation with solitary American security, an obsessively narrow focus on terrorism, and indifference to the concerns of a politically restless humanity neither enhance American security nor comport with the world's real need for American leadership. Unless it can harmonize its overwhelming power with its seductive but also unsettling social appeal, America could find itself alone and under assault in a setting of intensifying global chaos.

Brzezinski has been hailed by Samuel P. Huntington for his "clear-eyed, tough-minded...geostrategic thinking in the grand tradition of Bismarck" and by Paul Wolfowitz as one of the world's "most penetrating analysts of international affairs and...one of the leading practitioners of the art of strategy." In The Choice, he identifies America's crucial strategic imperative: America must be both guarantor of global security and promoter of the global common good.

"Brzezinski's new book...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." David Ignatius, The Washington Post

"[A] perceptive overview....Though couched in the sober, nuanced language of policymaking, the book amounts to a point-by-point rebuttal of the Bush doctrine....[A]n exemplary argument..." Publishers Weekly

"For those disconcerted by current events, Brzezinski's proposals represent an alternative to George W. Bush's weltanshauung." Gilbert Taylor, Booklist

"One of the most important books on U.S. foreign policy since September 11....[F]or Democrats attempting to assemble a serious and thoughtful alternative to Bush's foreign policy, The Choice is indispensable." Foreign Affairs

"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

"[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 U.S. 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 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?

"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

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.

The overwhelming reality of modern times 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 ever. Brzezinski argues for a more complex and sophisticated view of its global role than much of the media and political leadership are willing to entertain.

The foreign policy expert offers an assessment of recent American foreign policy, arguing for a more sophisticated posture in the world that positions America as a supporter of reform and justice in the world.

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.

Preface
Pt. I American Hegemony and Global Security 1
1 The Dilemmas of National Insecurity 7
2 The Dilemmas of the New Global Disorder 41
3 The Dilemmas of Alliance Management 85
Pt. II American Hegemony and the Common Good 131
4 The Dilemmas of Globalization 139
5 The Dilemmas of Hegemonic Democracy 179
Conclusion and Summary: Domination or Leadership 213
Acknowledgments 231
Index 233