Overview

We often think of the modern era as the age of American power. In reality, we're living in a long, violent Eurasian century. That giant, resource-rich landmass possesses the bulk of the global population, industrial might, and potential military power; it touches all four of the great oceans. Eurasia is a strategic prize without equal-which is why the world has been roiled, reshaped, and nearly destroyed by clashes over the supercontinent. Since the early twentieth century, autocratic powers-from Germany under Kaiser Wilhelm II to the Soviet Union-have aspired for dominance by seizing commanding positions in the world's strategic heartland. Offshore sea powers, namely the United Kingdom and America, have sought to make the world safe for democracy by keeping Eurasia in balance. America's rivalries with China, Russia, and Iran are the next round in this geopolitical game. If this new authoritarian axis succeeds in enacting a radically revised international order, America and other democracies will be vulnerable and insecure. Hal Brands, a renowned expert on global affairs, argues that a better understanding of Eurasia's strategic geography can illuminate the contours of rivalry and conflict in today's world. The Eurasian Century explains how revolutions in technology and warfare, and the rise of toxic ideologies of conquest, made Eurasia the center of twentieth-century geopolitics-with pressing implications for the struggles that will define the twenty-first.

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9781324036944

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Reviews

""There is so, so much to admire in this latest work by Hal Brands, from the easy lucidity of his prose to the boldness of his geopolitical arguments, and from his assessments of the pre–First World War strategic landscape to his remarks on the growing tensions between China and the United States today. This very bold writing, combined with great professional editing, disguise the mass of archival and secondary sources upon which the book rests. It . . . challenges the notion that the center of world politics lies somewhere in the East."" -- Paul Kennedy, author of The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers ""The Eurasian Century is a historical and strategic tour de force, broad-ranging and full of insights. Above all, it is a necessary book, an analysis that should be required reading for everyone who will have, or hopes to have, responsibility for national security in the next administration and in the next Congress."" -- Robert Gates, 22nd Secretary of Defense

Author Information

Hal Brands, coauthor of Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict with China, is the Henry Kissinger Distinguished Professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland.

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