Of the three former Presidents, Brzezinski rates the elder George H. W. Bush as the best. Between 1989-92, Bush I had to deal with an incredible number of international events: e.g. the collapse of the U.S.S.R.; emerging democracies in Eastern Europe; Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, to name just a few. With great skill, however, he was able to usher in a peaceful end of the Cold War, while keeping together the U.N.-sanctioned coalition that drove Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait. Unfortunately, this great tactical skill was not exploited with an ensuing strategic vision.
Bill Clinton, meanwhile, is portrayed as a brilliant man who failed to live up to his promise, and whose haphazard decision making style resulted in a self-indulgent foreign policy. Clinton may have been loved around the world, but he did not use this goodwill to make an important mark in geopolitical affairs.
George W. Bush, on the other hand, is portrayed as a terrible president who sullied the reputation of the U.S. around the world. The invasion of Iraq is particularly criticized as a geo-political failure. His president is described as a complete disaster.
With this in mind, Brzezinski argues that the next U.S. President -- this book was published in 2007, a year before President Obama was elected -- will have to repair the image of the United States around the world, while pursuing a coherent strategic vision that escaped his three predecessors. In an ominous passage at the end of the book, however, is this sentence, which was written well before the current financial meltdown: "Given America's growing global indebtedness (it now borrows some 80 percent of the world's savings) and huge trade deficits, a major financial crisis, especially in an atmosphere of emotionally charged and globally pervasive Anti-American feeling, could have dire consequences for America's well-being and security."
As the Chinese curse says, may you live in interesting times.
3 out of 5 stars
