Out of Control: Global Turmoil on the Eve of the 21st Century [Paperback]

Zbigniew Brzezinski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1995

Brzezinski provides a stark and realistic look at the world's economy and moral crisis in a brilliant analysis of today's geopolitical order.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The former director of the National Security Council presents a jeremiad for America's declining moral legitimacy as a global leader.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

President Carter's former national security adviser has produced his fourth book in ten years. The last one, The Grand Failure ( LJ 4/15/89), chronicled the decline of communism. This time, Brzezinski joins other recent writers like George F. Kennan ( Around the Craggy Hill, LJ 1/93) and Paul Kennedy ( Preparing for the Twenty-First Century, LJ 3/1/93) in describing the possible dark future facing the United States and the rest of the world. Unlike Kennedy, Brzezinski does not clutter his text with footnotes and references but simply tells it as he sees it in an extended thought-piece. Characterizing the present century as one of megadeath and organized insanity with the complete failure of totalitarian utopias, Brzezinski argues that only through a fundamental realignment of humankind's ethical and moral behavior will we survive into the next century. He sees a trilateral political and economic alliance among North America, Europe, and East Asia developing over the next few years and predicts an enhanced role for the United Nations. As a thinker and writer on world affairs for over 30 years, Brzezinski is worth considering. Recommended for larger collections.
- Ed Goedeken, Iowa State Univ. , Ames, Ia.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone; 1St Edition edition (December 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684826364
• ISBN-13: 978-0684826363
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #341,846 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Say Noone Warned You..., December 4, 2001

By 

Radostina Stefanova (Targovishte, Bulgaria) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Out of Control: Global Turmoil on the Eve of the 21st Century (Paperback)

Although I have never been anything of a Brzezinski-admirer, I cannot help expressing my deep respect of this piece. "Out of Control" is a thoughtful and greatly written analysis of the current state of global politics, drawing on numerous past examples to make the ultimate point that the world is going out of control due to a multitude of reasons, and unless urgent measures are taken to prevent such developments, the most dismal misgivings of mankind may come true. If you don't feel intimidated by Brzezinki's language and style at the very beginning of the book, you'll probably enjoy it quite a lot.

Brzezisnki starts with a ghastly overview of the world's (read Europe's) 20th century, figuratively depicting it as the century of "megadeaths and metamyths." He occasionally breaks his typical dry academic style to make a number of strong emotional points, which in a way distinguishes "Out of Control" from anything else I have read by him. Nazism and Communism, Hitler and Stalin, are depicted as monstrous as one may expect them to be, and by doing so Mr. Brzezinski prepares the ground for his further claims that humanity is at peril.

As one can rightfully expect him to do, Zbigniew Brezinski does not fail to discuss widely America and its role in current international politics. But this time he not only points out America's supremacy, but also pinpoints a number of fundamental drawbacks and faults of American cultural and social life, the grass-root debasement of principles and values, as well as certain economic weaknesses which might ulimately take global leadership out of US hands. The most seroius concerns, however, are raised not just by America's inability to tackle its economic problems and thus its failure to stand firmly in a world of ever rising significance of the markets, but rather by its decreasing ability to provide global leadership and contribution in the creation of globally shared set of values. And, what is even worse, at this precise moment there is no viable alternative to this; no other power is ripe enough to bear the challenges of such a burden. Given that America's own society is gradually degrading, driven by omnipresent and omnipowerful consumerist culture, it is hard to believe that America can offer universally valid human values, which might evetually lead to a "clash of civilizations" (to use Huntington's term). In light of the September 11 events, one may only admire Brzezisnki's tremendous scope of political insight.

Consistent with the above, "Out of Control" is also interesting in that it provides a profound discussion of the basic philosphical stives of modern man: who am I, where do I come from, where am I going? Brezisnki correctly points out that "for mankind the gap between enhanced expectations and actual capabilities may have never been as great as it is today." Modernization has increasingly being causing frustration of individuals, which in turn produces aggression. This is what ultimately might lead to a world impossible to control, although Brzezinksi does not explicitly state it.

Another discussion so typical for this author is also the one about global power distribution and the viability and competitiveness of other political actors. He offers something similar in "The Grand Chessboard," and it is shaping up as one of his trade marks. In "Out of Control," however, the options open for the establishment of a new world order are somewhat modified by the pace of globalization. The rivalry we have been witnessing recently is not one between nation-states, but rather one of the rich vs. the poor. The latter, however, because of growing anxieties over inequality, are becoming increasingly susceptible to mass mobilization: another token that something is going wrong in world affairs. And again the fresh memories of the attacks on the WTC come to mind; they are reminiscent of Brzezinski, aren't they?

"Out of Control" is indeed a great book; although it adopts a somewhat Hobbesean view (by implying that human nature is inherently aggressive) and a marked instrumentalist perspective, it is a perfect depiction of the state of modern global politics, with its possible negative implications. It was written almost ten years ago; nevertheless, it sounds just as thoughtful and live today as it has probably been back then.

44 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Zbig Ego, January 2, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Out of Control: Global Turmoil on the Eve of the 21st Century (Paperback)

To understand this book, its contents, or its significance, one must first understand its author. This is not always important, but in this case, it is essential. Zbigniew Brezinski, or Zbig for short, is the former National Security Advisor for the U.S. government, a Council on Foreign Relations member and former co-director, the co-founder with David Rockefeller of the Trilateral Commission, and probably the leading intellectual of the reigning political and economic power elite, to use a phrase coined by sociologist C. Wright Mills. In other words, he is the voice of the reigning powers, to a very large degree.
In that sense, his books are well worth reading - but not for the reason of wanting to take his advice, but for seeing what the power elite are up to. He stated his goals and values very clearly in an earlier book, Between Two Worlds: America's Role in the Technotronic Era, when he unequivocally stated that it would soon become possible to maintain continuous surveillance on virtually every person on the planet, and that this would support the overall goal of eliminating national sovereignties and democracies, under the leadership of an international elite-ruled global governance. He is, in short, a closet fascist. He wants, and advocates, an Orwellian society of technological surveillance under an elite-run global feudalism. I'm sure he would choose more pleasant euphemisms for global totalitarian dominance by a few wealthy bankers, financiers and intellectuals, but I will call it what it is: fascism. Read his books. But don't forget the infantile grandiosity, the supreme hubris, and the Orwellian dreams of technological global totalitarianism that is the motive behind them. His books and his own words will make that clear, if anyone is willing to wade through them.

5.0 out of 5 stars Out of Control?, November 10, 2011

By 

liberaldemocraticnationalist - See all my reviews

This review is from: Out of Control: Global Turmoil on the Eve of the 21st Century (Paperback)

This book is a great overview of 20th Century geopolitical history. I agree with much of what Mr. Brzezinski has to say about the "metamyths" surrounding the totalitarian regimes that killed millions: Stalin, Mao, and Hitler. But out of those flurished a new world order that essentially kept Fascism, the worst kind of totalitarian regimes from rearing its ugly head.
Now that the Soviet system has collapsed 20 years ago, we see new Fascist movements coming alive, especially here in America via the rightwing. Other places are experiencing this, like the rightwing skinhead movements in Europe.

I like the book. It has insights about the world of the 20th century, and where we will go into the future, but as in everything one reads no one is always correct 100% of the time.

I recommend this book highly.