The Grand Chessboard Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Grand Chessboard - Assignment Example In the Introduction of â€Å"The Grand Chessboard† by Zbignew Brzezinski, he shows how Eurasia, a combination of Europe and Asia, basically held the world power through politics, based on geographical and economic values. This was true even as the Americas began colonization and ultimately, the industrial revolution that brought the United States in line with other world powers. In the twentieth century, and through several world wars, the development of technology, economy and trade, has rapidly pushed the United States forward as a world political arbitrator in the complex relationships between the countries that make up the Eurasian conglomerate. In World War II, when essentially the United States was invaded on its own shores for the first time by a foreign power, the United States stepped away from its previously held stance of isolationism and idealism, and joined the global conflict to protect its own interests. In doing so, the United States became a global power to be contended with on a serious level. It can be safely said that without the introduction of the United States to the Allied powers group in the war, the outcome would have been very different. Europe and Britain would be under the dominance of Hitler’s Germany, and Asia, under the influence of Japan, albeit a rather limited one (Brzezinski,5). From the end of World War II, war was fought on an ideological level between Communist Russia, China and the Western powers of Europe and the United States as part of the â€Å"Cold War.† ... For 300 years, the Roman Empire ruled the region on its highest level, maintaining internal vitality and unity as part of its successful dominance. What finally broke the Roman Empire was the division of governing different areas in the Empire rather than keeping control centralized in one spot, the disintegration of morals and ideology, and a sustained inflation which required sacrifices the people no longer wanted to make. At the time of writing this book, Brzezinski viewed America as ‘standing supreme in the four decisive domains of global power,’ those being economic, militarily, technologically, and finally, culturally. Today, there is less supremacy, mainly because of the economic situation, even though the effects are worldwide, not just in the United States. The economic situation today almost forces America to show military might in areas of the world where changes in a foreign country could severely affect the American economics. Many wars in our present time a re more about economics rather than a political ideology, although they are somewhat tied hand in hand. What is unique about America is its influence in creating dialogue with other nations in an effort to promote a universe of international communication and peaceful interaction to avoid unnecessary potential conflicts (Brzezinski, 28). That’s not to say that other countries are not doing this too, but it seems the United States is in the middle of everything major concerning world events and their potential resulting effects. As Brzezinski notes, to support this claim, America’s supremacy has helped institute NATO, a collective international security group with an integrated command that represents the world at large;