The End of the World Is Just The Beginning

One of the dominant features of global affairs the past few years is that the global world order is changing. This notion is usually discussed alongside concerns about the re-emergence of great-power conflict as the usual suspects – the United States, China and Russia – compete for influence. The End of the World is Just the Beginning goes a step further than acknowledgment, delving into what a future world order could actually look like.Peter Zeihan’s book is a pessimistic look at where the world is going, balanced with enough humour and analysis to keep the reader engaged. Zeihan, a geopolitical strategist, focuses heavily on geography and its influence on a country’s success. He suggests that much like in the aftermath of the Second World War, the U.S.’s unique geography positions it to succeed in the new world order. This may be comforting to some in some respects, but unfortunately this does not mean that things look great anywhere else, or that the U.S. has the will or capacity to continue leading its own world order as it has done since 1945. It may strike a reader immediately as American-centric, but Zeihan does not address the significant reasons the U.S. cannot uphold its order – including serious internal divisions and populism –as he describes how the country’s various regions could co-operate to their own benefit.The United States was the dominant architect of the world from 1945 onwards. It created the circumstances that resulted in some of the healthiest and wealthiest humans who have ever existed, the fastest and most impressive boom in innovation humanity has ever seen and the most peaceful, interconnected world there has ever been. It is now as well-positioned as it can be to succeed in a different system. It took massive effort for the U.S. to create and maintain the globalized world we’ve known since 1945 – an effort that it no longer keeps up, and that no other state or bloc of states can take on. Perhaps the effort may need to be internal now. While this book’s message is not positive, it’s an honest one that many prefer to deny. As Zeihan puts it, “the good times are over.”