Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 252 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
OpEdNews Op Eds    H2'ed 8/25/16

The Broken Chessboard: Brzezinski Gives Up on Empire

By       (Page 1 of 3 pages)   3 comments
Message Mike Whitney
Become a Fan
  (44 fans)

Reprinted from Counterpunch


(Image by Photograph courtesy of Munich Security Conference, distributed under a CC-BY 2.0 license.)   Details   DMCA

The main architect of Washington's plan to rule the world has abandoned the scheme and called for the forging of ties with Russia and China. While Zbigniew Brzezinski's article in The American Interest titled "Toward a Global Realignment" has largely been ignored by the media, it shows that powerful members of the policymaking establishment no longer believe that Washington will prevail in its quest to extend US hegemony across the Middle East and Asia. Brzezinski, who was the main proponent of this idea and who drew up the blueprint for imperial expansion in his 1997 book The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives, has done an about-face and called for a dramatic revising of the strategy. Here's an excerpt from the article in the AI:

"As its era of global dominance ends, the United States needs to take the lead in realigning the global power architecture.

"Five basic verities regarding the emerging redistribution of global political power and the violent political awakening in the Middle East are signaling the coming of a new global realignment.

"The first of these verities is that the United States is still the world's politically, economically, and militarily most powerful entity but, given complex geopolitical shifts in regional balances, it is no longer the globally imperial power." (Toward a Global Realignment, Zbigniew Brzezinski, The American Interest)

Repeat: The US is "no longer the globally imperial power." Compare this assessment to a statement Brzezinski made years earlier in Chessboard when he claimed the US was "the world's paramount power."

"...The last decade of the twentieth century has witnessed a tectonic shift in world affairs. For the first time ever, a non-Eurasian power has emerged not only as a key arbiter of Eurasian power relations but also as the world's paramount power. The defeat and collapse of the Soviet Union was the final step in the rapid ascendance of a Western Hemisphere power, the United States, as the sole and, indeed, the first truly global power." ("The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy And Its Geostrategic Imperatives," Zbigniew Brzezinski, Basic Books, 1997, p. xiii)

Here's more from the article in the AI:

"The fact is that there has never been a truly 'dominant' global power until the emergence of America on the world scene... The decisive new global reality was the appearance on the world scene of America as simultaneously the richest and militarily the most powerful player. During the latter part of the 20th century no other power even came close. That era is now ending." (AI)

Next Page  1  |  2  |  3

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Must Read 5   Well Said 5   Valuable 4  
Rate It | View Ratings

Mike Whitney Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Mike is a freelance writer living in Washington state.

Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Class Warfare Scoreboard -- Guess Who's Winning?

Henry Kissinger calls for a New Post-Covid World Order

Newt's Victory: Was it a "Surge" of popularity or faulty voting machines?

Is Fukushima's Doomsday Machine About to Blow?

The Broken Chessboard: Brzezinski Gives Up on Empire

Troublemaking Washington: Pushing Ukraine to the Brink

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend