Quantcast
 
 
 

The Rise of the Rest

 
Sponsored by
 

Email To A Friend

Please fill in the following information and we'll email this link.

Separate multiple addresses with commas

 

To bring others into this world, the United States needs to make its own commitment to the system clear. So far, America has been able to have it both ways. It is the global rule-maker but doesn't always play by the rules. And forget about standards created by others. Only three countries in the world don't use the metric system—Liberia, Myanmar, and the United States. For America to continue to lead the world, we will have to first join it.

Americans—particularly the American government—have not really understood the rise of the rest. This is one of the most thrilling stories in history. Billions of people are escaping from abject poverty. The world will be enriched and ennobled as they become consumers, producers, inventors, thinkers, dreamers, and doers. This is all happening because of American ideas and actions. For 60 years, the United States has pushed countries to open their markets, free up their politics, and embrace trade and technology. American diplomats, businessmen, and intellectuals have urged people in distant lands to be unafraid of change, to join the advanced world, to learn the secrets of our success. Yet just as they are beginning to do so, we are losing faith in such ideas. We have become suspicious of trade, openness, immigration, and investment because now it's not Americans going abroad but foreigners coming to America. Just as the world is opening up, we are closing down.

Generations from now, when historians write about these times, they might note that by the turn of the 21st century, the United States had succeeded in its great, historical mission—globalizing the world. We don't want them to write that along the way, we forgot to globalize ourselves.

Adapted from The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria. © 2008 by Fareed Zakaria. With permission of the publisher, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

© 2008

 
Discuss
Member Comments
  • Posted By: bijindesu @ 05/16/2008 10:31:51 AM

    Comment: After reading some of the comments, I feel even sadder for America. If you refuse to face the fact and pretend all is well with America, then you are not going to do anything about it.
    Americans, open your eyes and look around! The rest of the world is not the same as you imagined or as described by mainstream media. Just go to youtube or current and see how other countries are now.

  • Posted By: free_for_some @ 05/15/2008 4:21:36 PM

    Comment: If you are going to write like a moron, at least use spell check so you won't immediately seem like one.

  • Posted By: good conscience @ 05/14/2008 2:46:14 PM

    Comment: Posted by:justiceprincess -- Is it possible for Newsweek to somehow limit the length of the postings? There is not a soul on the planet who has anything to say that cannot be said in a paragraph of about five or six sentences. I refuse to read the long ravings and rantings from these egocentric and self-righteous posters. Newsweek, what if you got your webmaster to fix it so that each person is limited to say, 300 words? Everyone would benefit. Thank you!

Sponsored by
 
 
 
The Peek
 
 
STRATEGIES

Harmonix, creator of Rock Band and Guitar Hero, is changing videogames.

Sponsored by
 
 
 
 
CAMPAIGN 2008
republican gop convention periscope mccain

John McCain's choice to manage the GOP convention this summer is lobbyist Doug Goodyear, whose firm once represented Burma's repressive regime.

Sponsored by
 
 
 
loadingLoading Menu