Khanna, a widely recognized expert on global politics, offers an study of
the 21st century's emerging geopolitical marketplace dominated by three
first world superpowers, the U.S., Europe and China. Each competes to lead
the new century, pursuing that goal in the third world: select eastern
European countries, east and central Asia, the Middle East Latin America,
and North Africa. The U.S. offers military protection and aid. Europe
offers deep reform and economic association. China offers full-service,
condition-free relationships. Each can be appealing; none has obvious
advantages. The key to Khanna's analysis, however, is his depiction of
a second world: countries in transition. They range in size and population
from heavily peopled states like Brazil and Indonesia to smaller ones such
as Malaysia. Khanna interprets the coming years as being shaped by the race
to win the second world.and in the case of the U.S., to avoid becoming
a second-world country itself. The final pages of his book warn eloquently
of the risks of imperial overstretch combined with declining economic
dominance and deteriorating quality of life. By themselves those pages
are worth the price of a book that from beginning to end inspires reflection.

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