‘A World in Disarray’ Is a Calm Look at a Chaotic Global Order
Haass writes with brisk authority here, moving fluently between discussions of larger dynamics (like the role that astute statesmen with an understanding of the nuances of diplomacy can play in forging peace, or preventing disaster) and the specifics of tangled relationships in hot spots like Syria and Afghanistan.
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Richard Haass
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Melanie Einzig
While readers may not agree with all its assessments, “A World in Disarray” provides a useful look at the current state of world affairs — put in perspective with a brief and compelling history of international relations from the Peace of Westphalia (treaties signed in 1648, ending the Thirty Years’ War) through the end of the Cold War; and an equally succinct analysis of the forces and events that have shaped today’s global landscape.
This volume covers some of the same ground that Henry A. Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski did in recent books. Like Kissinger in “World Order” (2014), Haass often focuses on the historical developments that have made the world both more interconnected and more subject to the forces of fragmentation. And he, too, is fascinated by how changes within a country — in this case, Brexit in Britain and the recent American election — can disrupt an international equilibrium.
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Like Brzezinski in “Strategic Vision” (2012), Haass sees the United States playing a necessary, if not indispensable, role in carrying “a large portion of the burden of creating and maintaining order at the regional or global level” — a role that Trump, with his “America First” campaign, has often vociferously questioned. Haass writes that “the United States is and will likely remain the most powerful country in the world for decades to come,” and “no other country or group of countries has either the capacity or the mind-set to build a global order.”
In what may sound to readers like a warning to the Trump administration and its erratic approach to foreign and national security policy, Haass adds: “The United States has to be wary of sudden or sharp departures in what it does in the world. Consistency and reliability are essential attributes for a great power. Friends and allies who depend on the United States for their security need to know that this dependence is well placed. If America comes to be doubted, it will inevitably give rise to a very different and much less orderly world. One would see two reactions: either a world of increased ‘self-help,’ in which countries take matters into their own hands in ways that could work against U.S. objectives, or a world in which countries fall under the sway of more powerful local states, in the process undermining the balance of power.”
Disarray at home, he goes on, “is thus inextricably linked to disarray in the world.” He adds, “The two together are nothing short of toxic.”
In addition to providing an understanding of the continuing consequences of pivotal events (like the invasion of Iraq and the Arab Spring), Haass also offers quick assessments of some of the challenges on the world stage, from the danger posed by North Korea (a case in which he underscores the importance of consulting with allies Japan and South Korea, and with China) to the threat Russia poses to some of its small neighbors.
Of Vladimir V. Putin, Haass writes: “It is no exaggeration to say that he is less constrained by bureaucracy and colleagues than were his predecessors who oversaw the Soviet Union. Putin has ‘deinstitutionalized’ Russia and introduced a worrisome degree of personal rule.”
The last portion of this book, in which Haass lays out recommendations for dealing with “a world in disarray,” can feel cursory and rushed. But overall, this volume is a valuable primer on foreign policy: a primer that concerned citizens of all political persuasions — not to mention the president and his advisers — could benefit from reading.
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