The Second World by Parag Khanna
The Second World by Parag Khanna
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Monday, 08, Jun 2009 04:29
Published by Penguin Books, out now, in paperback, 341 pp (441 pp with bibliography and notes), £9.99.
In a nutshell...
Fascinating investigation of emerging-world globalisation.
What's it all about?
In this excellent journey through the world's second-tier economies Parag Khanna seeks to explore their past and possible future, how they are defining themselves in the 21st century and their relationships with the world's three major economies: the US, China and the EU.
As he makes his way through Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and South East Asia he looks at how old-world geopolitics no longer applies in the new millennium. He argues that the age-old methodology of military conquest and empire building is no longer viable in the modern world and it's through trade, cultural exchange and investment that the new global dividing lines will be drawn.
Who's it by?
Parag Khanna is an Indian-born American expert on international relations who served as an advisor to the United States Special Operations Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and provided assistance to the candidacy of Barack Obama.
He travelled through more than 50 countries as part of his research for The Second World and was named as one of Esquire's Most Influential People of the 21st Century.
He is a polyglot speaking at least six languages and is currently working on his second book - How to Run the World - and PhD at the London School of Economics.
As an example...
"A century ago, globalisation was defeated by geopolitics, unleashing World War I. The question is whether history will repeat itself a century later. The answer remains unknown, for as the second world shapes both geopolitics and globalization, diplomacy becomes ever more an art."
Likelihood of becoming a Hollywood blockbuster
As an academic study of global politics it's highly unlikely The Second World will be coming to a cinema near you.
However, as Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth has shown, there is a market for thoughtful political explorations and this would certainly be high on the list of thought-provoking works to be translated to film.
What the others say
"Takes us to a whole series of important places we might be disinclined to visit for ourselves. a great feat of reportage." - Niall Ferguson, Financial Times
"A thrilling tour d'horizon . witty, intelligent, insightful portraits of regions and countries struggling to find their way amid globalization's explosive advance." - Thomas Barnett, National Review
"Khanna is something of a foreign policy whiz kid." - Ray Bonner, New York Times Sunday Book Review
So is it any good?
If you're looking for a good bedtime read then you might want to look somewhere else. But despite the heavy topics and at times overly analytical nature of Parag Khanna's descriptions this book can definitely be described as a page-turner.
For anyone with even a passing interest in the way the post-Cold War world is developing this is an essential read and will introduce even the most hardened global observer to a few surprising and entertaining revelations.
Through his mix of hard facts and sporadic, unattributed quotations from people as wide-ranging as diplomats, journalists, students and taxi drivers, Khanna paints an elegant portrait of the emerging world both from an objective and subjective point of view.
And it works. It's more detailed than a simply anecdotal analysis but more entertaining than a dry political study and it's this combination which will keep you interested and fascinated throughout this thoroughly engaging book.
8/10
Jonathan Moore