Remarkable Reading #12: SUPERPOWER - Three Choices For Americas Role in The World and BREXIT: How Britain Left Europe

The aim of this section Remarkable Reading is pay a tribute to the books that taught, share trends & insights into where our world in the 21st century is heading in a technology enabled world, and ask the right questions.

Bolded and italics quotes and references do not belong to myself  and belong directly to the author.  The focus is to share valuable insights and teachings from the book to win business for the authors.

The Two trends I’ve focused on here are:

1. What initial impact Brexit has on the world and
2. What it means to be a Superpower in the 21st Century and beyond for the United States of America

Carrying on further from my earlier post here , Denis Macshane Brexit: How Britain Left Europe is another illuminating addition to the recent turn of events with Brexit.  It’s an extremely comprehensive and exhaustive book that knows its intricate details well.

Here are five key take-outs I found interesting:

From: CHAPTER 2 - CHURCHILL INVENTS THE UNITED STATES OF EUROPE

Page 28 - “The question of Europe tends to be treated as an  issue of immediate news.  There are headlines but rarely history.  Yet in modern British history,  beginning with World War 2 and its aftermath, Europe has always been central.  In September 1946 Winston Churchill surprised the world with his appeal for the creation of a “United States of Europe”.  The speech was made in Zurich.  It echoed in every city of the war-destroyed continent. It gave rise to the European Movement and the process that led to the creation of the Council of Europe and the European Convention and Court of Human Rights.  As early as 1942, Churchill had sent a note to his cabinet colleagues. In it he argued:

“Hard as it is to say now, I trust the European family may act unitedly as one under a Council of Europe.  I look forward to a United States of Europe in which the barriers between the nations will be greatly administered and unrestricted travel will be possible”?

A CENTRIFUGAL EUROPE, page 8 - “The losses for Britain will be serious.  Either Britain outside the EU seeks the same status as Norway, which has to accept all EU norms and directive including free movement of EU citizens, or Britain declares itself completely independent of the EU as as if it were Canada or India. To be sure, trade and commerce will continue but on terms dictated by the EU. Britain exports half of what it produces to the EU but the British market amounts to just one tenth of what EU produces.  Britain will lose all say and influence over how the single market works and the City.”

Page 158 - “Each member state of the EU, each with its own distinct language, has rightly insisted that interpretation and translation should be provided.  This necessary cost may have perverse effect of preventing European mutual comprehension. It is often said that the British  and the Americans are “two peoples divided by common language”, and it is true that the many forms of English in use around the world do not permit the creation of a common political space.  Great hopes have been placed in the European Parliament of the many highly competent zn hard-working members of the democratic legitimacy in the way that the House of Commons Germany, the Cortes in Spain or the Sjem in Poland, as well as the sources of law-making, democratic legitimacy and political decision”.

Page 139 - “Threats to British involvement in the EU’, they wrote in the Evening Standard, are threats to British Business.  This kind of argument is beginning to surface as the masters of finance in the City wake up to the seriousness of Brexit”

Page 48 - “To thus link Britain with Europe would “mean the end of Britain as an independent nation-state.  It would mean the end of a thousand years of history.  It does mean the end of the Commonwealth if the mother country is a province of Europe”

Now moving on to Ian Bremmer’s SUPERPOWER -  THREE CHOICES FOR AMERICA’S ROLE IN THE WORLD.  

The United States of America is the world's biggest Western Superpower.  It has persevered and provided to the world culturally, economically, and technologically over and over again for the last few hundred years.  Ian Bremmer’s captivating and enticing book is perfectly timed at educating us on the choices America has in the 21st Century.

Here are the top take-outs:

Page 1 -”America will remain the world’s only superpower for the foreseeable future.  But what sort of superpower would it be?  What role should America play in the world?  What role do you want America to play”.  Some say the time has come for the United States to mind its own business, let other countries solve their own problems, and focus instead on rebuilding America’s strength from within.  Others insist that Washington can and should pursue an ambitious foreign policy, but one designed solely to make America more secure and more prosperous, not to foist our political and economic values on others.  Still others say the world needs leadership and that only America can provide it.  They argue that Americans and everyone else will be better off if democracy, freedom of speech, access to information and the right of the individual are universally respected”

Page 119 - “let’s be clear: America is not an exceptional nation.  America is the most powerful, but that doesn't mean it’s always right.  We are not all-knowing, and he universal benefit is never our main concern.  America has done much good in the world, and it will do more.  But it has also done  a lot of damage, particularly by trying to force our values on others without careful consideration of the consequences”

Page 15 - “Over the next generation, the global economy will depend more for its dynamism on the strength of resilience of emerging market countries.  That should worry us, because these countries are inherently less stable than the rich-world powers that have driven growth over the past several decades”

Page 145 - “It is vitally important that the United States reinvest in its relationship with Europe, the bedrock of transatlantic stability and prosperity for the past half century”

Page 21 - “And when it comes to the next frontiers in extraordinary breakout technology, liker 3-D manufacturing, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, cloud computing, robotics, big data and advanced material science, American entrepreneurs and companies are leading the way”

Page 131 - “Fulfilling our responsibilities abroad is crucial for our own prosperity, because in a globalized world we can't succeed unless others succeed too.  We need confident commercial partners with whom to trade.  We need others to help finance our success by investing in our debt.  We must ensure that U.S companies that created jobs at home by building market share abroad can operate within a safe and stable international environment”

Page 41 - “China is the world's most important rising power, and America’s relationship with that country will determine how peaceful and prosperous the world will be over the next half century.  India is another emerging power with enormous potential as a political, trade and investment partner.  Japan, a traditional U.S ally remains the world’s third largest economy and an increasingly important player in East Asia’s security.  Rising powers like South Korea and Indonesia, and promising upstarts like the Philippines and Vietnam, add to the region's importance.

You can follow Ian Bremmer on Twitter here, visit his website here, and purchase a copy of his book here.

You can follow Denis Macshane on Twitter here, visit his Wikipedia page here and purchase a copy of his book on Amazon here.

I will be further exploring the relationship between The United States of America and the world in consecutive posts.

Thank you,

Prashant aka Praz

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