Excellent Review of Brzezinski's New Book in NY Review of Books [View All]

It's worth buying a copy, or going to the nyrb Website in a few days to see if it goes on-line. The author is William Pfaff, who co-authored another book on foreign policy recently criticizing the Bushist "worldview."

The main points of the review: that Brzezinski faults Bushism, and much of American "thinking" about foreign policy in the wake of 9-11 particularly, for being irrational and impractical, potentially leading the country toward such a useless dead end as Fortress America. Fear of terrorism is a debilitating disease, ZB apparently argues, that must be overcome for the good of the country and the world.

Alas, ZB is apparently stronger on his critique of what's wrong than his prescription for a cure, which involves focusing attention on the Caucusus. The bottom line is that Pfaff thinks any cure that places the US in a special relationship to the rest of the world is doomed to failure, including Brzezinski's, for reasons Brzezinski cites in his critique of others' plans: they're fundamentally irrational. The way out of Bushism and this miserable imperialism of the last dismal American century is to find a path toward rationalism, and this means curing ourselves of our tendency to mythologize. The world wants the US to be effective and strong, and will even follow its lead; but only if it demonstrates that it stands on solid ground.