The Ideas That Conquered The World: Peace, Democracy, And Free Markets In The Twenty-first Century - Softcover

Mandelbaum, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1586482068 ISBN 13: 9781586482060

Publisher: PublicAffairs, 2004

Synopsis

At the dawn of the twenty-first century, three ideas dominate the world: peace as the preferred basis for relations between and among different countries, democracy as the optimal way to organize political life, and free markets as the indispensable vehicle for the creation of wealth. While not practiced everywhere, these ideas have- for the first time in history- no serious rivals. And although the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, were terrible and traumatic, they did not "change everything," as so many commentators have asserted. Instead, these events served to illuminate even more brightly the world that emerged from the end of the Cold War. In The Ideas That Conquered the World, Michael Mandelbaum describes the uneven spread (over the past two centuries) of peace, democracy, and free markets from the wealthy and powerful countries of the world's core, where they originated, to the weaker and poorer countries of its periphery. And he assesses the prospects for these ideas in the years to come, giving particular attention to the United States, which bears the greatest responsibility for protecting and promoting them, and to Russia, China, and the Middle East, in which they are not well established and where their fate will affect the rest of the world. Drawing on history, politics, and economics, this incisive book provides a clear and original guide to the main trends of the twenty-first century, from globalization to terrorism, through the perspective of one of our era's most provocative thinkers.

About this title

Synopsis:

One of America's leading foreign policy thinkers provides an "important and compelling" look at today's new power realities (Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times ). In a time of war and uncertainty, The Ideas That Conquered the World offers a major statement about the fault lines of the twenty- first century, from globalization to terrorism, from great-power conflict to common security. Michael Mandelbaum argues that three ideas dominate the world: peace as the preferred basis for relations between and among countries, democracy as the optimal way to organize political life, and free markets as the indispensable vehicle for the creation of wealth. While not practiced everywhere, they have-for the first time in history-no serious rivals. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the American military excursions into Afghanistan and Iraq that followed have not changed this. In The Ideas That Conquered the World , Michael Mandelbaum describes the uneven spread over the past two centuries of peace, democracy, and free markets around the world.

And he assesses the prospects for these ideas in the years to come, giving particular attention to the United States, which bears the greatest responsibility for protecting and promoting them, and to Russia, China, and the Middle East, where their fate will affect the rest of the world.

About the Author:

Michael Mandelbaum is the Christian A. Herter Professor of American Foreign Policy at the School of Advanced International Studies of The Johns Hopkins University, and is a senior fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a regular foreign affairs columnist for Newsday and the author or co-author of eight books on foreign policy.

About this edition

• Publisher: PublicAffairs
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1586482068
• ISBN 13: 9781586482060
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 526