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The Great Experiment: The Story of Ancient Empires, Modern States, and the Quest for a Global Nation
by Strobe Talbott
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (2008-01-01)
ISBN: 0743294084
EAN: 9780743294089
Dewy Decimal #: 320.1
Hardcover: 496 pages
Edition: 1st Simon & Schuster Hardcover Ed
SKU: 080426009
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comments: This copy states First Simon & Schuster Hardcover Edition January 2008. It is in excellent condition. No visible markings, highlights, underlining, tears to text. Tight spine. Clean Hard Cover and Dust Jacket with Light shelf/edge wear. Very interesting copy, worth having at an affordable price. (5H-31)
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
This dramatic narrative of breathtaking scope and riveting focus puts the "story" back into history. It is the saga of how the most ambitious of big ideas -- that a world made up of many nations can govern itself peacefully -- has played out over the millennia. Humankind's "Great Experiment" goes back to the most ancient of days -- literally to the Garden of Eden -- and into the present, with an eye to the future.Strobe Talbott looks back to the consolidation of tribes into nations -- starting with Israel -- and the absorption of those nations into the empires of Hammurabi, the Pharaohs, Alexander, the Caesars, Charlemagne, Genghis Khan, the Ottomans, and the Hapsburgs, through incessant wars of territory and religion, to modern alliances and the global conflagrations of the twentieth century. He traces the breakthroughs and breakdowns of peace along the way: the Pax Romana, the Treaty of Westphalia, the Concert of Europe, the false start of the League of Nations, the creation of the flawed but indispensable United Nations, the effort to build a "new world order" after the cold war, and America's unique role in modern history as "the master builder" of the international system. Offering an insider's view of how the world is governed today, Talbott interweaves through this epic tale personal insights and experiences and takes us with him behind the scenes and into the presence of world leaders as they square off or cut deals with each other. As an acclaimed journalist, he covered the standoff between the superpowers for more than two decades; as a high-level diplomat, he was in the thick of tumultuous events in the 1990s, when the bipolar equilibrium gave way to chaos in the Balkans, the emergence of a new breed of international terrorist, and America's assertiveness during its "unipolar moment" -- which he sees as the latest, but not the last, stage in the Great Experiment. Talbott concludes with a trenchant critique of the worldview and policies of George W. Bush, whose presidency he calls a "consequential aberration" in the history of American foreign policy. Then, looking beyond the morass in Iraq and the battle for the White House, he argues that the United States can regain the trust of the world by leading the effort to avert the perils of climate change and nuclear catastrophe.
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Customer Reviews
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not perfect but definitely worth reading
Rating  (4)
Date: 2008-11-17
This book contains a whirlwind history of empire and internationalism, along with Tallbott's personal anecdotes and opinions about recent history and his own vision for the future. While yes it contains the political biases that come from working in a particular administration, the biases are openly admitted, and the book still presents an interesting and refreshing point of view.
The book might not be technical/detailed enough for some, the historical descriptions might get repetitive for a serious student of history, and even a casual reader like myself might wish for a more detailed framework/plan for the future; but I still recommend the book for the overall scope, enjoyable pacing and language, and the unique point of view presented.
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Short-sighted Ideology
Rating  (3)
Date: 2008-11-17
This broad and sweeping analysis of multilateral geopolitics, from a western hemisphere perspective, illustrates how even intelligent, experienced and well-educated people can be blinded by ideology. Strobe Talbott is so right about the upward trajectory of human political endeavor towards global governance, and yet so far left in his conclusions and advice for how to move forward from here.
Clearly the occupation of Iraq has been a challenging effort that was miscalculated, misunderstood and mismanaged. But how can the author smugly state that Operation Iraqi Freedom is "the most ill-conceived, poorly executed, and disastrous exertion of American power in the history of the republic" with a straight face? Has he not considered the implications of the Vietnam War or even the Bay of Pigs? Or do those not count because they were launched by Democratic administrations?
Nuclear proliferation is certainly a major risk, but is global climate change really the second-most important challenge facing the civilized world in 2008? What about the threat of Islamic terrorism? How about the interdependency of global financial markets and the overextension of credit? To say nothing of the risk of the security and controls for information and data management of international military, water, energy, financial and human resources.
It's a shame that such a talented author, diplomat and political historian comes up short on such an important topic. Ignoring the obvious smacks of both hubris and arrogance. As that noted international and multilateral statesman John Adams once said, "Facts are stubborn things", Mr. Talbott.
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Insight without vision
Rating (3)
Date: 2008-08-08
This was an insigtful overview of the historical attempt by mankind to become one human nation, but it ultimately failed to provide of vision as to how that might be accomlished.
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A Call for a Globalist New World Order
Rating  (1)
Date: 2008-07-23
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
Talbott is yet another elitist advocating a Globalist New World Order and the erasing of national borders. If you value your nation's sovereignty, be wary of Talbott. For an opposing perspective, read "The Great Betrayal - How American Sovereignty and Social Justice are being Sacrificed to the Gods of the Global Economy" by Patrick Buchanan.
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Okay...
Rating (3)
Date: 2008-05-06
2 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
This book began by making some interesting connections of the influences of history, and Talbott presented some intriguing arguments in his first few chapters. But after about 150 pages or so, the rest of the book seems to turn to a hastily written history of the world, making me wish he had simply stopped after his original arguments were presented and answered. The historical descriptions that follow the beginning may be helpful for some untrained history buffs, but becomes a bore for professionals.
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