One of our most distinguished thinkers argues that the "rise of the rest" is the great story of our time.

"This is not a book about the decline of America, but rather about the rise of everyone else." So begins Fareed Zakaria's important new work on the era we are now entering. Following on the success of his best-selling The Future of Freedom, Zakaria describes with equal prescience a world in which the United States will no longer dominate the global economy, orchestrate geopolitics, or overwhelm cultures. He sees the "rise of the rest" — the growth of countries like China, India, Brazil, Russia, and many others—as the great story of our time, and one that will reshape the world. The tallest buildings, biggest dams, largest-selling movies, and most advanced cell phones are all being built outside the United States. This economic growth is producing political confidence, national pride, and potentially international problems.

How should the United States understand and thrive in this rapidly changing international climate? What does it mean to live in a truly global era? Zakaria answers these questions with his customary lucidity, insight, and imagination.

"When a book proclaims that it is not about the decline of America but 'the rise of everyone else,' readers might expect another diatribe about our dismal post-9/11 world. They are in for a pleasant surprise as Newsweek editor and popular pundit Zakaria (The Future of Freedom) delivers a stimulating, largely optimistic forecast of where the 21st century is heading. We are living in a peaceful era, he maintains; world violence peaked around 1990 and has plummeted to a record low. Burgeoning prosperity has spread to the developing world, raising standards of living in Brazil, India, China and Indonesia. Twenty years ago China discarded Soviet economics but not its politics, leading to a wildly effective, top-down, scorched-earth boom. Its political antithesis, India, also prospers while remaining a chaotic, inefficient democracy, as Indian elected officials are (generally) loathe to use the brutally efficient tactics that are the staple of Chinese governance. Paradoxically, India's greatest asset is its relative stability in the region; its officials take an unruly population for granted, while dissent produces paranoia in Chinese leaders. Zakaria predicts that despite its record of recent blunders at home and abroad, America will stay strong, buoyed by a stellar educational system and the influx of young immigrants, who give the U.S. a more youthful demographic than Europe and much of Asia whose workers support an increasing population of unproductive elderly. A lucid, thought-provoking appraisal of world affairs, this book will engage readers on both sides of the political spectrum." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

The "post-American world," argues Zakaria (editor, Newsweek International), is resulting not from the decline of American power but from the rise of the rest of the world (i.e. China, India, Brazil, Russia, etc.), a power shift that is as significant in its implications for world order as the rise of the United States in the closing years of the 19th century or the rise of the Western world in the 18th century. He offers his thoughts on how the United States should strategically adapt to this development, calling for abandoning the drive for hegemony and beginning to engage in far more sincere coalition building in defining the global agenda. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

"A sharp, well-written work of political economy." Kirkus Reviews

"Mr. Zakaria uses his wide-ranging fluency in economics, foreign policy and cultural politics to give the lay reader a lucid picture of a globalized world (and America's role in it) that is changing at light speed..." Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

"Zakaria's arguments are accessible to general readers, and his supporting data are not overwhelming to digest." Library Journal

"Amid such gloom, it is refreshing to read Fareed Zakaria, who writes with infectious (though not naïve) sunniness. In The Post-American World he makes a passionate case that the U.S., along with the other great democracies that won the Cold War, will continue to prevail." The Wall Street Journal

The author of the bestselling The Future of Freedom describes a world in which the U.S. will no longer dominate the global economy. He sees the "rise of the rest" as the great story of our time, and one that will reshape the world.

One of our most distinguished thinkers argues that the "rise of the rest" is the great story of our time.

Fareed Zakaria is the editor of Newsweek International and writes a weekly column on international affairs. His previous book was the New York Times bestseller The Future of Freedom. He lives in New York City.