Paperback: 216 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.49 x 9.16 x 6.10 Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr; (July 26, 1999) ISBN: 0691010358

Book Description

"Beautifully conceived; dazzlingly executed: Zakaria's theoretical penetration is matched by his mastery of the process of America's coming of age as a great power. The book casts a bright light on the past and the future--and the future of international politics."--Kenneth N. Waltz, Institute of War and Peace Studies, Columbia University

"The theory of state-centered realism set forth in From Wealth to Power is the most important innovation in foreign policy theory.... This book shows how theory and history can be combined to improve the former and illuminate the latter. It is a superb example of qualitative social science analysis."--Samuel P. Huntington, Director, John M. Olin Institute for Strategic Studies, Harvard University

What turns rich nations into great powers? How do wealthy countries begin extending their influence abroad? These questions are vital to understanding one of the most important sources of instability in international politics: the emergence of a new power. In From Wealth to Power, Fareed Zakaria seeks to answer these questions by examining the most puzzling case of a rising power in modern history--that of the United States.

If rich nations routinely become great powers, Zakaria asks, then how do we explain the strange inactivity of the United States in the late nineteenth century? By 1885, the U.S. was the richest country in the world. And yet, by all military, political, and diplomatic measures, it was a minor power. To explain this discrepancy, 

Walter A. McDougall, The New York Times Book Review
"[From Wealth to Power's] tightly argued thesis addresses a question sure to be revisited.... Its conclusions are both provocative and full of implications for the world today."

Aaron L. Friedberg, The Wall Street Journal
"Mr. Zakaria persuasively illustrates [his] argument by examining America's emergence as a great power.... [His] account of turn-of-the-century American diplomacy is concise and insightful."

Choice
"A significant contribution to the study of international relations." 

His answer lies in the transference of the government's main power from Congress, which was concerned primarily with the needs of its individual constituencies, to a presidency occupied by dynamic leaders such as Benjamin Harrison and Theodore Roosevelt, who once declared that "when the interests of the American people demanded that a certain act should be done, and I had the power to do it, I did it unless it was specifically prohibited by law."

The lessons Zakaria learns from the example of America have useful applications to contemporary political science; one might consider, for example, the ways in which a politically unified Germany or a economically powerful Japan differs from the 19th-century America that was politically and economically strong; the presence of both qualities would appear to be required for a nation to flex its muscles on the international scene. 

Although it never quite completely answers the "why," From Wealth to Power does extremely well on the "how" and the even more important "so?"

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