America and the World: Conversations on the Future of American Foreign Policy

This book drew me in with it's insightful, easy to understand dialogue. It gave me the opportunity to view the world in a whole new way. Dr. Brzezinski and General Scowcroft offered me a new perspective and I felt included in the global community for the first time. I can recommend this book to anyone hoping to better grasp our role in foreign policy, past and future.

Insightful conversations. Too bad we don't listen and act on the recommendations of such thoughtful and experienced individuals.

I checked this book out from the Library over this last weekend. The conversation is between Bret Scowcroft and Zibignew Brzenski on how they viewed and presently view foreign policy. Bret served under a Republican administration and Zbig under a Democrat.
What's delightful is that these conversation gave the other a chance to disagree or dispute opinions. There was very little of that. I feel that the dialog between these two Foreign Security advisors was throughly open and honest.
In reading this book I gained a fuller understanding of American foreign policy in the past, it's successes and failures. Historically this is a very important book. Much of what is said at this 'conversation' was never reported nor analyzed at the time events took place.
Their conversations about past and future policies in China, Russia and the Middle East give clarity to both tenses.
The disappointing part of this book is that no attention is paid to Latin America and little to Africa. (Egypt is mentioned but only in the case of Israel.)

Despite the fact that this two gentleman reside on different sides of the political divide they put forth a honest, frank and sober assessment of American foreign policy in the post Cold War era, warts and all, with none of the rancor that has so come to dominate 'political discourse' in American societal organisation recently. Moreover, the moderator is to be commended for letting the principals discuss and engage in debate and not become as some many 'talking heads'unfortunately do, inject themselves in to the dialogue and in a clear majority of cases distract from the quality of the subsequent debate. One could only hope that both candidates campaigning for the office of president read this text, so as to not repeat the recent missteps as this is something no US administration nor its polity can affords to endure again.

Zbigniew Brzezzinski and Brent scowcroft are the two most competent authorities to discuss about the future American Foreign Policies. While Scowcroft is handicapped in respect of the first Gulf War on Iraq, he can't support a total withdrawal of the American forces from Iraq right now since he himself was not sure if the American decision not to topple Saddam in the first Gulf War was a right or wrong decision.

Brzezzinski, on the other hand, has been consistent in discouraging use of force to consolidate US supremacy on a global scale, much like professor Wendell Bell's interview on the heels of the 9/11, when the latter thought that the United States ought to be more understanding and restrained. Professor Brzezzinski is very realistic and he along with Scowcroft rightly thinks that a resolution of the Israli-Palestinian issue and the Iran imbroglio must be energetically pursued to act as a firefighter in that tinder box region. Incidentally the M-E issues made much headway when Brzezzinski was the NSA.

The future US leaders must draw from the great fountainheads like the former NSAs in question since the United States now stands at a crossroad vis-a-vis the rest of the world in the present century where both the possibilities and adversities coexist. It remains to be seen how America enhances the former and reduces the latter. In that respect the views of both these luminaries are important.

Gautam Maitra
Author of 'Tracing the Eagle's Orbit: Illuminating Insights into Major US Foreign Policies since Independence.'