Second Chance: Three Presidents and the Crisis of American Superpower

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Basic Books, Jul 31, 2008 - History - 240 pages
America's most distinguished commentator on foreign policy, former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, offers a reasoned but unsparing assessment of the last three presidential administrations' foreign policy. Though spanning less than two decades, these administrations cover a vitally important turning point in world history: the period in which the United States, having emerged from the Cold War with unprecedented power and prestige, managed to squander both in a remarkably short time. This is a tale of decline: from the competent but conventional thinking of the first Bush administration, to the well-intentioned self-indulgence of the Clinton administration, to the mortgaging of America's future by the "suicidal statecraft" of the second Bush administration. Brzezinski concludes with a chapter on how America can regain its lost prestige. This scholarly yet highly opinionated book is sure to be both controversial and influential.
 

Contents

1 The Challenge of Global Leadership 1
1
2 The Mists of Victory 17
17
3 The Original Sin 45
45
4 The Impotence of Good Intentions 83
83
5 Catastrophic Leadership 135
135
6 Beyond 2008 179
179
Acknowledgments 217
217
Index 219
219
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About the author (2008)

Zbigniew Brzezinski (1928-2017) was National Security Adviser to President Jimmy Carter, a counselor and trustee at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and a professor of American foreign policy at Johns Hopkins University. He is the author of New York Times bestsellers Second Chance and Strategic Vision, among many other books.

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