The Great Experiment: The Story of Ancient Empires, Modern States, and the Quest for a Global Nation (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: ecumenical state, global nation, United States, Security Council, United Nations (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Talbott, deputy secretary of state in the Clinton administration, makes an eloquent but predictable appeal for progress toward global governance under the auspices of the United Nations, which he sees as humanity's destined path since tribes began forming states, and since states have sought an alternative to international anarchy. The major obstacle to the new order, according to Talbott (Engaging India), is the United States, whose massive power and individualist principles encourage its citizens to regard limiting national authority as unnatural. In the face of cultural resistance, however, presidents from Franklin Roosevelt to Bill Clinton regarded some form of world authority as both a natural development in a nuclear era and a useful element of U.S. foreign policy. The villain of the piece, not surprisingly, is George W. Bush, who Talbott claims asserted America's right to make and enforce rules for other nations, rejected facts that did not support his preconceptions and ignored advice from more experienced foreign-policy hands. The resulting havoc wrought by triumphalism and evangelism, according to the author, will require the careful attention of wiser, more temperate people, presumably in a Democratic administration. While the roots of Talbott's argument run deep, it echoes so much conventional wisdom on the subject that its impact is likely to be minimal. (Jan.)
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Review

"Americans should read this narrative -- part history, part memoir -- and hope for a day when its author will once again be in a position to help restore his country's fortunes." -- Tony Judt, author of Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1st Simon & Schuster Hardcover Ed edition (January 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743294084
• ISBN-13: 978-0743294089
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.9 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #477,689 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars eloquent, insightful, and provocative, January 12, 2008

By	David W. Straight (knoxville, tennessee United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This excellent work starts with a seemingly simple question "What is a nation?" and goes from there to question of how a group of neighboring nations can get along peacefully. The "global" part of the phrase "global nation" has meant your community in your known world. As the book shows, this has grown from Biblical times where the known world was the Middle East to the present time, where the known world is everything on earth.

So, what is a "nation"? A consolidation of tribes, as in the Bible? Groups joined by common interests, background, or language? Talbott shows that the OED definition isn't very helpful--and quotes Julian Huxley: "A nation is a society united by a common error as to its origins and a common aversion to its neighbors"--humorous, to be sure, but probably no worse than other definitions. Interestingly, the earliest successful empires often featured tolerance of different customs and beliefs and decentralization, so as to keep the subject nations or tribes from becoming rebellious. Talbott describes how Rome, Greece, the Mongols, etc, managed this.

The second part of the book deals primarily with the 20th century--with the League of Nations and the United Nations, and the transition from imperial views to the idea of shared responsibility. The concepts are more familiar to us, so this part is not as thought-provoking as the first part, but the analysis of the successes and failures of the League and the UN in terms of conflicts, civil wars, etc is very well done.

The final part of the book deals with the shift from multilateralism to unilateralism by the US, and the beginnings of a shift back to a more multilateral view. This, for Talbott, seems to be the most personal part of the book as well as being the most provocative. He quotes Truman saying that preventive war is a weapon "of dictators, not of free democratic countries like the United States", and he also quotes Bush I "We seek a Pax Universalis built upon shared responsibilites and aspirations." There's a lot in this section to think about, particularly as regards the role of the US in the world. Communication and transportation have made everything in the world very close: if a sparrow dies in Indonesia, should we care? If that sparrow was a pet and died of avian flu, and the owner arrives in the US 15 hours later, should we care? If Pakistan goes into chaos, is it our business? As Talbott notes, can the US remain aloof from problems elsewhere in the world? Talbott also talks about "a la carte multilateralism" where the US picks and chooses which tidbits it likes and ignores the rest. There's much here to make you pause and think--and that's what a fine book like this should do.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent combination of history and insight, January 24, 2008

By	Trevor Cross "persepolis" (Hingham, MA United States) - See all my reviews

I was skeptical about reading this book. Many authors have tried to weave together a cogent history of the nation-state with its implications for the future. Most of those attempts have been soporific and/or permeated with personal agendas.
Strobe Talbott has succeeded admirably. It is a pleasure to read something that is not only illuminating, but is also well written (something very rare these days). Moreover, the tone is erudite without being stuffy, precise without being boring. I especially appreciated how he saved his personal commentary for only those moments when it was appropriate--and even then, he does so in a way that is subtle but powerful. He adroitly leads the reader to confront conclusions within the context of relevant facts. I could go on, but suffice to say that this is probably one of the best books I have read in the last several years.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay..., May 5, 2008

By	G. LACEY (Detroit, MI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.