Abstract
Zbigniew Brzezinski is a counselor, trustee and co-chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) advisory board, and a senior research professor of international relations at the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. He has previously taught at Columbia and Harvard Universities. Dr. Brzezinski was national security adviser to President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981. He is the author of several seminal books on international security and strategic issues.
In his new book Brzezinski discusses prospects of much discussed power transition to the East from the West. He thinks this transition may be apparent but not necessarily inevitable. The author opines that the US decline is a choice for its people and its leadership and not destined by fate. The people of US have therefore an option for revitalization of their national resolve. He recognizes that powers in Asia are on the rise but ignores the fact that the rise of the East will result in the reduction of the relative power of the West. US power may not be declining in absolute sense but it is not rising as well and it will have lesser power in future as national power of other states increases.
The author believes that beside US, Europe, Japan and other newly industrialized countries like China, Russia, Brazil and India (BRIC) will be the primary players of international politics in future. He also identifies secondary players like Israel, Mexico, Turkey, Iran and South Korea who will be influenced by these primary players which could result in potential wars for domination. With this perspective he identifies a number of states that are likely to be “geopolitically most endangered states” in future. His list of such states also includes Pakistan.