Five Roads to the Future - Book Report/Review Example

Five Roads to the Future Introduction Every great or small literature is documentation of the time, society and age of which it has evolved. Needless to mention that the perspective from which the author of the book views his age, society and time get captivated in the valuable and engaging documents those stand out as a mark of the contemporary time long after the dates of its first appearance and publication ‘Five Roads to the Future: Power in the Next Global Age’ by Paul Starobin, which is not only an engaging study about the future global politics but is a definite doorway to the future too. Before taking a plunge into the detailed analysis of the enlightening document bearing the title, ‘Five Roads to the Future: Power in the Next Global Age’, it is very important to take a note on the career and profession of the creator of this valuable document so that the vision and perspective captivated within the pages of this study becomes more pertinent. Five Roads to the Future: An Engaging Study Paul Starobin has been a staff correspondent for the daily “National Journal”. He has been a senior international correspondent and has been a contributing editor to “The Atlantic”. He has served as the Moscow bureau chief for the magazine “Business Week” from the year 1999 to 2003. He has contributed his engaging and enlightening contents also to “The New York Times”, “The Washington Post”, “The Wall Street Journal” and “The National Geographic.” It is quite evident from a man who has been so closely related to world politics and international journalism, to envision the global politics of power game and its future. In this book, he skilfully blends the fresh reportage with a close analysis of the historical events and culminated to envision a world in which United States is no more visualised as the omnipotent and all-powerful block in the discourse of politics for superpowers. The definitive rendered by Starobin is a culmination of the insightful study of global political ascendance and Starobin suggests possible reason for this effacing influence from the American end into the scenario of global politics. Along with this Paul Starobin also makes an exploration of the five definite alternative of United States in her declining regime leading to the five potential orbits into the future the world is about to encounter. Most importantly all these five paths or possibilities towards the changed global perspectives are already into making. Starobin in his value adding document suggests that the plausible reason for the decline of America as an all pervading superpower block can be a chaotic situation which might get dark or happy, establishment of nation-states that would be multi-polar in order, establishment of a global emporium dominated by China, an era which would see growing city-states and an establishment of a global civilization culminating into the formation of the world government. The tone of Starobin in depicting these events as the root cause for the decline of United States as the superpower is sombre in nature but the ending of the book takes place with high hopes and in an optimistic tone, Starobin comes to the conclusion that the decline of the power-block in the future global politics dominated by United States is not a disaster but it can lead to the liberation of humanity and establishment of a healthy political environment. The theme of the book is captivated within its anatomy and a close introspection to the book would launch one into a neat division of the 374 pages of this brief guide to future world politics into three sections or part each containing four chapters. In this way, the book contains twelve chapters focusing on the topics pertaining to the present global political scenario that slowly culminates in to a plausible future as the book ends. Part one is the introductory segment of the book and pertains to the formative ground on which the further discussion, exploration, logic and analytics related to the five plausibility for the decline of United States as the super power is framed and this segment of the book deals with the history of America that led to its rise to influence in the global political scenario. This segment of the book deals with the close analysis of the past, ignoring which no present or future can be explored and it has got nothing new to offer. In the second part of the book Starobin explores the present crisis, instability and fall of America which lies in the foolishness pertaining to the outbreak of Iraq War which consequently leads to the global financial crisis mostly affecting United States’ economic credibility and strength compared to any other nations of the world. The discussion of the present after the past is a systematic culmination of the orbits that would lead the readers to the futuristic scenario of global politics where America is nowhere and no more envisioned as the superpower. Starobin views that the fall of America’s omnipotence was inevitable but the aftermath of the Iraq War and attack on Afghanistan just accelerated the situation. The last or the third segment of the book relates with the insights which Starobin provided and suggested the plausible scenario that might develop with the course of time resulting into the decline of United States as the super power in the scenario of the future global politics. Chapter 2 of the book summarizes the rise of United States and its civilization attaining hegemonic status gradually. This phenomenon Starobin views as one of the accidental tidal force that is interplaying beyond the aspect of planning and control of any nation and this generalised perspective in his approach is maintained by him in describing the five scenarios and gradually unfolding them. Drawing the reference of the economist, W. Stanley Jevons, Starobin expresses the status of the hegemonic status of United States in his language who expressed it, failing to conceal his excitement, and stark sense of aggression, “The Plains of North America and Russia are our corn-fields; Chicago and Odessa our granaries... Peru sends her silver, and the gold of South Africa and Australia flows to London; the Hindus and Chinese grow tea for us” (Starobin, P., “Five Roads to the Future: Power in the Next Global Age”, Pg -55). In the Chapter 3 of the book, Starobin gets a bit philosophical by describing the evident and inevitable crest and fall occurring in every civilization and he describes it as an integral part of it by maintaining a point that civilizations are all about culture and not about physics therefore the fall of America is justified and it is not very important that the decline of America in future will be maintained by rhythmic pattern of coming up once again and rather this cyclic pattern will be a follow up of natural order. Starobin thus muses, “Declinism can be a lazy habit of thought, more a mood than an actual system of analysis, but there is laziness and lack of rigor on the other side of the intellectual coin as well” (Starobin, P., “Five Roads to the Future: Power in the Next Global Age”, Pg -76). Chapter 4 provides the description of the US model of corporate management and its failure is the first step of US towards its waning influence and this has taken place due to several factors among which short-sightedness pertaining to the quarterly bottom-line, blind–spots located in the cultural paradigm, blended with the weak dollar, served in order to discredit the US model for world-wide development are some chief among many reasons To prove his strong point of contention, Satrobin straightway remarks regarding the corporate management of America and economy that pertains to it, “Nor does US model of corporate management stand as the twenty-first century benchmark for the world. The American business manager once was thought to be without peer in his ability to harvest profits from the global marketplace” (Starobin, P., “Five Roads to the Future: Power in the Next Global Age”, Pg -80). It also describes the increasing Americanism in the middle-of-the-road unexceptionally finding place not only in the Satrobin’s narrative but also in all the sphere of art, culture, infrastructure, business, education and politics. Starobin remarks, “While these economic barometers stand out as unmistakable signs of a loss in America’s role as a benchmark society, there are less obvious but no less real examples in the domain of culture” (Starobin, P., “Five Roads to the Future: Power in the Next Global Age”, Pg -81). Chapter 5 of the book describes the problems related with the over ambitious and overreaching military policies and aggression of America consequently leading the nation to economic instability and financial debts. Starobin observes, at a sarcastic tone indicating the abrupt failure of myriad international policies undertaken by the Bush government, “These days he is still committed to his idea of European –American unity but doubtful of its prospects” (Starobin, P., “Five Roads to the Future: Power in the Next Global Age”, Pg -102). Chapter 6 narrates the revival of Russia to the plane of world politics with a strong combination of first world potentials of military power along with third rated economy might have the possibility of operating through the fringes of American frontier. Chapter 7 provides the description of the vivid ongoing chaotic situation prevailing across the globe like oil-spots, and determines the regions across the globe which emerged with the breaking of civil war without any central authority for vigilance or intervention with the consequent reversion to tribalism and brute force Chapter 8 speaks about the multi-polar world where Starobin makes an odd note of a prospect or strong possibility of a multi-polarise and connoting it as a monumental concept as it has remotely ever existed. In the following sentence, he paradoxically describes the last existent multi-polar world which he found among the balanced power of the 19th century amid the great nation states of Europe during the time of the great game. Chapter 9 initiates with the description of Chinese commodities and the inflation of its power based on the economic expansion at a global scale which is strikingly contrasted with the rigorous misuse of the United States’ national treasures on the frontier. Also, the economic alliances with the nations like Canada, Chile and Brazil are notable in this chapter. Chapter10 of the book ponders on the fictional possibility of the formation of the city-states in future where all the power blocks of the world would get decentralized and distributed amid these city-states,. Starobin hopes and marks this kind of a fictional organization in the future owing to the present global political scenario and does not at all convince the readers. And once again the book enlightens its readers in this chapter by taking note of the economic theory and scientific socialism propounded by Marx which again in a way proves Starobin’s tremendous power to relate myriad themes into one perspective or paradigm by mentioning, “Karl Marx understood history as proceeding from the material or hard economic base with softer matters of culture amounting to ‘superstructure’” (Starobin, P., “Five Roads to the Future: Power in the Next Global Age”, Pg - 102). Chapter 11 can be seen as the extension of the chapter 10 and presents the continuation of the topics discussed in the previous chapter. Starobin visualizes an establishment of a universal civilization which would evolve in the form of national and regional power and would with passage of time take over the existing power elites. Chapter12 marks the concluding chapter of the book and in this chapter Starobin almost tries to sum-up all his analysis and discussion made in the previous chapters of the book. He visualizes America to be powerless and down-sized. This he views as a sort of liberation and rather gives predominance to the multicultural Australia that according to Starobin stand as a challenge to California which Starobin thinks is likely to encounter as a separate nation state. Strengths and Weakness All creations have positive and negative aspect like two side of the coin and the book, ‘The Five Roads to the Future: Power in the Next Global Age’ by Paul Starobin is not an exception in this regard at all. The book has myriad strengths. Firstly, it is presented and culminated very logically. The book is brief and lucid with comprehensive vocabularies and short sentences. The book gives ample examples from the past and present global politics which makes it more engaging and enlightening document of world politics. As Starobin states possibilities in the global political scenario therefore he needed to delineate many aspect of future world which is based on his imagination. In order to make those elements readable and convincing, Starobin had to conduct a strong research and relate those points with the past and present events of world politics. Along with the strengths, there are certain loop holes in the plot and culmination of the book which cannot be ignored either. The pertinent drawback of the book is its abrupt ending. In the concluding discussion of the book, which is captivated in the chapter 10 to 12, the readers find that Starobin presents a possibility of challenge that California would encounter from a multi-racial and multi-cultural country like Australia. But it seems that the energy of the writer finished with his abrupt ending as he has not clearly stated the consequence and the procedure of the challenge that California would encounter as a nation-state from Australia. Secondly, the fictional culmination of the universal civilization in chapter 11 and decentralization of power through the city-states in Chapter 10 which the writer culminate based on the present political scenario is not at all convincing as the power blocks are already acting as a de facto global cover all through the economic and military alliances in the present scenario. Conclusion Apart from certain loop holes situated in the presentation of the book, undoubtedly the engaging study presented by Paul Starobin is well documented and well written. The book does not at all fall into the mundane trap of historic heroism. The book provides some fascinating perspective on the role of America and presents a clear scenario that takes place behind the curtain of international power game. The book is thought-provoking and is the alternative suggested by Starobin in the global politics is inevitably interesting and reflection of his great effort. Reference Starobin, Paul. Five Roads to the Future: Power in the Next Global Age. Penguin Group USA, 2010. Read More