The Post-American World

I just finished reading Fareed Zakaria’s The Post American World. It explores the ‘rise of the rest’ – China, India, Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, Turkey – and America’s role in this rather more balanced world where it no longer has undisputed hegemony.

The book was written before the 2008 financial crisis, so reading it now, at the end of 2009, would perhaps give the picture of a significantly weaker America (and stronger China) than when Fareed wrote it. Nonetheless, it is a thoughtful analysis of how the balance of power in economics and politics, foreign policy, and global strategy might look like in the upcoming decades.

And, most importantly, it will make you think.

For me, one line of thought it triggers is whether the immigrant experience is such a wonderful thing. Of course, I, like Fareed himself and countless others, came to America as an immigrant in 1989, and because the opportunities in India at the time were substantially lesser than they are today, decided to live in the US. Most of my generation followed this path, and a great deal of American GDP has been built on the shoulders of immigrants from various countries who decided to make America their home.

But in the process, these generations of immigrants have also left something behind. They – we – have lost something. We have not been able to have dinners twice a week with our parents, as our parents did with their parents. Our children are raised without grand parents, except in bouts of transcontinental visits. Our parents age half the world away, and when ill, they cannot count on us. These are not necessarily healthy or desirable social outcomes.

Instead, in the post-American world, I imagine that opportunities will be closer to home. Talented youngsters will not need to go so far to actualize themselves. The Indians, for example, can, perhaps, enjoy the quintessentially Indian tradition of the extended family.

So while Fareed concludes by saying that as long as America can remain open to the world’s talents with a friendly immigration policy and an open society, the country’s future as the innovation and entrepreneurship capital of the world is still relatively secure, I beg to differ.

I think, America has lost its allure for immigrants. So even though students come from all over the world to study in its institutions of higher learning (still the best in the world), many will be returning to their countries of origin to do their professional work.

In 1995, I had returned to India with the intention of living there. Frustrated by the overall backwardness and dysfunction of India’s business climate, I eventually left. But I suspect, today’s talent finds a dramatically different climate in their own countries – in China, Brazil, or Indonesia.

And perhaps, this return of the “brains” is also a balancing force that is playing out in the world today. Only time will tell if America can continue to maintain its stronghold on talent as it has done for decades.