Post 6

What is Zakaria referring to when he says “while it may be politically correct, it is historically incorrect?” (65) Do you agree?

In Fareed Zakaria’s book, A Post-American World, chapter three “A Non-Western World?” details the history of China’s sea exploration. China’s shipbuilding industry flourished long before the western world. However, the industry collapsed after a change leadership, and China has been trying to catch up with the western world since then . Zakaria describes one view of the dominance of nations believes that the West had an accidental 200 year “blip” of power, and now we are returning to a normal balance of power. Zakaria says this view is “politically correct [but] is historically inaccurate” (65). The view of the blip is politically correct because “embraces a multicultural sensibility that denies any special status to the West” (65). However, Zakaria argues that the West has been dominant for much longer than this blip. Historically, China’s GDP was larger than a western country, but China was a much larger country in terms of population. Therefore, when calculating the GDP per capita, China had little growth compared to western countries in terms of wealth per person. Additionally, Zakaria states that the West’s technology and industries were the most advanced in the world by the 17th century. Overall, the West has been dominant for much longer than the 200 year blip that some historians believe.

Why did non-western countries stand still while the West moved forward? (Zakaria 73) Do you agree with Zakaria?

Non-western countries stood still while the West moved forward largely because of the overbearing impact of the government on non-western countries. Non-western governments controlled commerce and trade, so citizens were very dependent on the government. Therefore, citizens in non-western countries did not have the same motivations or freedoms as citizens in the West had to invent and be creative. Additionally, the geography of Asia was not as ideal for stability as the geography of western Europe. Western Europe has a plethora of mountain ranges and rivers that make land distribution easy to determine. Asia consists of mainly flat plains, so countries were often at war over gaining more land area. When war is ensuing, growth is often stunted. Europe had the advantages of geography and a less imposing government, which are two explanations for why non-western countries stood still while the West grew.