The Inheritance: The World Obama Confronts and the Challenges to American Power by David E. Sanger

An excellent (and frightening) discussion on the major geopolitical problems facing President Obama. From Iran, to North Korea, to Afghanistan and Pakistan, this book should be read by anyone who is interested in learning about the most dangerous foreign policy threats facing the U.S. at this time.

4 out of 5 stars

Cuba: The Morning After--Confronting Castro's Legacy by Mark Falcoff

An interesting look at contemporary Cuba that poses the $64,000 question: What will happen to the Caribbean island once Fidel Castro is gone? In this thorough work, Falcoff provides a comprehensive analysis of Cuba, and its complicated relationship with the United States. The result is an excellent study of the sole communist state in the western hemisphere.

Among other issues, this book looks at the economic structure of Cuba (with a particular focus on the sugar and tourism industries), the changing nature of Cuban immigration to the United States, and the true state of race relations and religion on the Marxist island. Despite having a strong anti-Castro bias -- is it possible to write an objective book on Cuba? -- Falcoff's work is a worthwhile read for anyone who is interested in the future of U.S.-Cuba relations.

3 out of 5 stars

Iraq's Sunni Insurgency by Ahmed S. Hashim

An excellent summary of the present-day Sunni insurgency in Iraq. In this brief study, Ahmed Hashim provides an insightful analysis of the different factions in the Sunni resistance (e.g. Ba'athist elements, Islamic fighters, nationalists, local tribes) , the Sunni-Shia split in Iraq, and the different objectives and tactics of the various Sunni factions. An excellent read for anyone who is interested in understanding what's happening in Iraq.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power, and the Neoconservative Legacy by Francis Fukuyama

Once a prominent neoconservative, Francis Fukuyama breaks with his former political comrades by attacking the U.S. invasion of Iraq. With deep insight, this book begins by tracing the origins of neoconservatism in the 1930s, with a group of left-wing intellectuals. Over the pursuing decades, this group moved, to greater and lesser degrees, to the right of the political spectrum. Unlike traditional conservatives of the Nixon-Kissinger school, however, the early-neocons blended a desire for greater human rights and liberty, with a belief that U.S. power could be used for moral reasons. (The "realist" school of Kissinger, in contrast, saw geopolitics as primarily a struggle for power among states). With the rise of Reagan, Fukuyama argues, the neoconservative worldview was able to trump the "realist" politics of detente espoused by Kissinger, and help bring an end to the cold.

But with the rise of a unipolar world led by the United States, the neoconservatives in the George W. Bush administration overreached, with the result that the U.S. got bogged down in Iraq at a huge military, human and political cost. Furthermore, in a case of political irony, the invasion of Iraq -- with its visions of nation building and spreading democracy across the Middle East -- was championed by a group of people who historically had been very critical of massive social engineering projects. Overall, this is a very smart book that provides insight into what went wrong in Iraq, and provides lessons on how the errors of the neocons can be avoided in the future.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Second Chance: Three Presidents and the Crisis of American Superpower by Zbigniew Brzezinski

In this short book, Zbigniew Brzezinski, the national security advisor under President Carter, analysis the three U.S. presidents who governed after the fall of the Soviet Union. Citing the immense opportunities that were available to the United States after the end of the Cold War, Brzezinski concludes that neither Bush I, Clinton or Bush II took advantage of their position as the de facto global leader.

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