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Synopsis

At the end of the Cold War, we found ourselves living in a world with one superpower, the United States. Now, at the start of the twenty-first century, Parag Khanna argues powerfully that the moment of American supremacy is over, brought about by the increasing influence of what he terms the Second World: Eastern Europe, Central Asia, South America, the Middle East and East Asia. Travelling from Azerbaijan to Venezuela, China’s hinterlands to Gaddafi’s Libya, Parag Khanna explores these countries and their global significance. For as the three superpowers – the US, the EU and China – compete for influence in the Second World, citizens of these countries can already feel the these imperial forces exerting their influence and affecting the global balance of power.

How can these competing powers win friends and influence people across the globe? What’s in it for the winner – and the loser? And how does the Second World feel about its increasing significance on the global stage? In a bold and provocative style, The Second World makes clear what’s at stake, for whoever dominates the Second World will lead the twenty-first century – or become a part of the Second World itself.

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Interview

Interview with The Second World author Parag Khanna

What is the second world and why are these countries now so important?
The second world are the 40 or more countries from Latin America to Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia and Southeast Asia which are the most dynamic and complicated countries grabbing headlines today. It includes Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, Libya, Egpyt, Turkey, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, and many more. These are the countries where America, Europe and China are increasingly competing for influence over their resources, friendship and other benefits -- and vice-versa. As the second world countries become more globalized and powerful, they will shape the future world order.
 
Which of the countries you describe in the book did you visit and why did you feel it necessary to go to these places?
I visit about 40 countries to research this book and write about all them (many mentioned above). I think this book would have been impossible without traveling to capture the essence of society, both its views about itself and about how people there see the great powers like America, Europe and China. I take a very aesthetic approach in this book, putting more emphasis on on the ground judgments than on theories or grand political declarations. It's easy to read what our Western foreign policies towards a country will be, but to know whether or not it actually works, one has to go there and see policies in action. Also, these countries are truly fascinating to travel through!
 
If there is one message/argument you'd like people to take away from the book, what would it be?
I want people to no longer think of countries as unified wholes -- there is no "Russia", "Turkey", "China", "Iran", even "America". Instead, countries are being pulled in different directions by their geographic neighbors, or by the economic forces of globalization, or by the rise of cultural schisms within them. This is happening everywhere, and one needs to ask whether it makes sense to use labels which imply that countries think and act coherently. All my travel and research show that they don't.
 
Who is this book for?
This book is for anyone interested in world affairs -- people who are watching US foreign policy, the European Union, Russia, the Middle East, the rise of China and India, energy/oil markets, etc. It is for journalists, scholars, students, political leaders, and diplomats as well. My goal is to present to everyone a new framework for understanding how our global society is evolving, and make it accessible to people from all backgrounds. It is not a book just for Europeans or Americans -- it can be read equally if you are Chinese or from any of the second world countries as well.
 
Why did you decide to write this book now?
I decided to write the book in 2005 when I noticed a plethora of books about how America is still the world's dominant empire, but also books about how Europe was re-shaping international relations, as well as books on how China would soon dominate the world. To me, these three sets of ideas are simply not logically compatible on the same planet. So I set out to write a book that compares American, European and Chinese strategies around the world in real-time, but I was keen to tell the story through the eyes of the societies where the ultimate victor in this geopolitical contest will be determined -- the second world countries.
 
What will the world look like in 2050?
It will probably be a world in which there are multiple centers of gravity such as America, Europe and China, while a host of secondary powers will also be influential such as India, Brazil, Japan, and Russia. The world will be very demographically blended, with a high Latin American population in America, a larger Arab and African population in Europe, a greater Chinese population around Central Asia and Southeast Asia. There may not be a United Nations as we know it today, since we do not yet have common rules among all the key powers. Corporations will be ever-more powerful, and work ever more for their own interest rather than those of the state.
 
How do you write - do you have a favourite place that you go to or a certain routine?
I wrote this book wherever I could find time to while traveling. After 3-5 months in each region (corresponding to a section of the book), I took several weeks break and made sure to finish a draft of the entire region's chapters before packing up and moving on to the next one again. Once I finished all the traveling, I wrote the Introduction and Conclusion and did the revisions at home in New York.
 
Who are the writers/thinkers you most admire?
I greatly admire scholars with such intimate and worldly experience like Timothy Garton Ash of Oxford. I have great respect as well for those who have spent years in gritty places to capture the inner essence and tumultuous nature of politics like Robert Kaplan. But historically speaking, two of my main inspirations have been George Bernard Shaw and Arnold Toynbee, whose own travelogue from a sailing voyage around the world in the late 1950s was a direct inspiration for The Second World.

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