ROMSO Cyprus Knowledge Base

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The only world power: America’s strategy of domination (English title: The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives, 1997, reissued 2016) is the German title of a geopolitical treatise by Zbigniew Brzeziński. The first German-language edition was published in 1999 with a foreword by Hans-Dietrich Genscher.

The aim of the author is “to design a comprehensive and coherent geostrategy with regard to Eurasia”. He argues for a certain foreign policy orientation and objective of the USA: The United States, as the “first, only real and last world power” after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, must secure its dominance on the “grand chessboard” Eurasia in the short and medium term in order to make a new multi-pole world order possible in the distant future.

The main ideas of the work are also contained in Brzezinski’s design A Geostrategy for Eurasia (1997).

Brzezinski’s geo-strategy, in terms of theoretical foundations, belongs to the “classical geopolitics” in the tradition of Halford Mackinder, with the focus shifted from the British Empire to the USA.

The work of Brzezinski is received controversially. While, on the one hand, it is considered a blueprint for actual American foreign policy, especially with regard to Eastern Europe and NATO’s eastward enlargement, it is also criticised for presenting only an individual opinion that is insignificant to recent US foreign policy or a misconception of the world political situation. The reception critically emphasizes the underestimation of the role of China and Europe, the unipolar approach and the exceptionalist global political design.

In the afterword of the 2016 edition, Brzezinski emphasizes that the unique dominance of the US as the first and last world power will be limited to a moment in world history for internal and external reasons. The US is increasingly perceived as unwilling and incapable of assuming the previous role. China, which surpasses America, should be led in a new multipolar order by the great power USA on a peaceful path. In the future, China, a Europeanized Russia and the US should work together to create a new common vision of order for the world community.

Introduction – Superpower Policy
In the introduction, Brzezinski outlines his overall conception. The current global dominance of the US, which he affirms, depends on how it copes with the complex power relations on the Eurasian continent. A stable continental balance with the United States as a political arbiter should enable the gradual achievement of overarching goals. As a final goal, he sees his vision of a “world community”