The Great Experiment: The Story of Ancient Empires, Modern States, and the Quest for a Global Nation
by Talbott, Strobe
- Used
- Hardcover
- Signed
- first
- Condition
- Fine+ in Fine+ dust jacket
- ISBN 10
- 0743294084
- ISBN 13
- 9780743294089
- Seller
-
Williamsburg, Virginia, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Synopsis
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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Details
- Bookseller
- James F. Balsley, Bookseller (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 12608
- Title
- The Great Experiment: The Story of Ancient Empires, Modern States, and the Quest for a Global Nation
- Author
- Talbott, Strobe
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Fine+ in Fine+ dust jacket
- Edition
- First Edition; First Printing
- ISBN 10
- 0743294084
- ISBN 13
- 9780743294089
- Publisher
- Simon & Schuster
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- [2008]
- Keywords
- 0743294084
- Bookseller catalogs
- History; International; Ancient History; Politics & Government;
Terms of Sale
James F. Balsley, Bookseller
All books are warranted to be as described and genuine (unless stated otherwise in the description). Payment by check, US postal money order or cashier's check in USD will be accepted and should be made out to James F. Balsley. Checks may be held until cleared by the bank unless you are known to me. Checks must be drawn on a US bank. Credit cards are accepted through Biblio.com. Books may be returned for any reason within 10 days of receipt for a full refund of the purchase price provided the book is returned in the same condition in which it was shipped. If the return is because the description is inaccurate or other error on my part, I will also refund the postage both ways.
About the Seller
James F. Balsley, Bookseller
About James F. Balsley, Bookseller
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...