The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives

“[Brzezinski] has now provided another scholarly blueprint for what he believes the United States should do in coming years to further America’s interests, maintain the hegemony it commands, and prevent global anarchy. For Brzezinski this is a strategic game, not unlike chess, to outwit potential rivals…. Brzezinski has now stated and restated his concerns. His books are there for any political leader to use as material for future policy declarations. But it is difficult in the current situation to imagine much of a competition to take up Brzezinski’s ideas, however well they are argued here.”

—BERNARD GWERTZMAN, New York Times

“The great merit of this volume lies in its analysis of the strategic outlook and policy dilemmas of a host of states in Eurasia. Brzezinski’s analysis of the triangular relationship among China, Japan, and America—together with the policy recommendations flowing therefrom—is particularly good.”

—Foreign Affairs

“At its best, The Grand Chessboard makes permanent contributions to the national debate over American foreign policy and power. At its worst, it demonstrates the need for contemporary statesmen and political thinkers to immerse themselves more deeply in the rich tradition of Anglo-American strategic thought that brought first Britain and now the United States to global preeminence at an astonishingly low cost.”

—Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Review

“The book is a must… for the current American foreign-policy decision-makers.”

—H-Net

“The former national security advisor is still a believer in geopolitics after all these years. Like most foreign-policy aficionados weaned on the Cold War, Brzezinski… has been forced by the disintegration of the Soviet Union to broaden his perspective—but not very far…. Like a grandmaster in chess, he plots his strategy several moves in advance…. This updated version of East-West geopolitics is worth taking seriously but it is also an amazing example of how a perspective can be revised without actually being rethought.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“The Grand Chessboard is the book we have been waiting for: a clear-eyed, tough-minded, definitive exposition of America’s strategic interests in the post–Cold War world.”

—SAMUEL HUNTINGTON, Harvard University, author of The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order

“The Grand Chessboard is, at last, a lucid, brilliantly presented exposition of the necessary new framework for American foreign policy, tying together the objectives for the short, medium, and long term that the country should now begin to implement. This fills a vital need.”

—FLORA LEWIS, columnist, International New York Times

“In this incisive book—itself on the most important documents to emerge in the wake of the Cold War’s end—Zbigniew Brzezinski displays his legendary scope and intellectual acuity in giving purpose to American power. In this time of drift, Brzezinski remains America’s paramount strategic mind.”

—NATHAN GARDELS, editor, Global Viewpoint

“The Grand Chessboard will shock the timid, infuriate the unimaginative, and inspire the thoughtful reader. For those who believe America should lead but are unsure how, it offers a pragmatic and compelling vision. For those in charge of U.S. policy-making, it is a required manual.”

—LIEUTENANT GENERAL WILLIAM E. ODOM, retired, director of national security studies, Hudson Institute