The Second World

By Parag Khanna

Introduction What Is Geopolitics?

“Unlike history, geopolitics is a discipline that looks backward explicitly for the purpose of looking forward.” (Introduction pg xix)

In the introduction Parag Khanna discusses the beginnings of geopolitics and how this concept came about

He then compares geopolitics to globalization

And finally introduces us to the idea of thinking like a second world

Russia

The Russian Devolution: “Russia remains the largest conundrum” (Chapter 2, pg 10) “ Because Russia remains so big,

neither the United States nor Europe nor China wants it to be strong” (pg 11).

The Russia That Was: “Russia’s two vast Asiatic zones –– Siberia and the far East, together five times larger than European Russia –– make it the ultimate “swing state” in determining whether NATO or the SCO will have the upper hand in Central Asia” (Chapter 8 pg 71).

The Caucasian Corridor

The countries that eastern and lie beyond turkey seem to have little or no meaning to the western parts of the world.

They have become a “communal department” towards Russia, meaning “a region where it can continue to wash the dirty laundry of the grand strategy” (Chapter 6 pg 48).

China

“What is China’s credibility as Eurasian leader?” (Chapter 7 pg 67)

“..And China floods the markets with low-cost goods and has taken the lead in upgrading infrastructure” (pg 69).

China’s Fist-World Seduction: “..China can exploit globalization to co-opt not only the third world but the entire first world as well, particularly in its own region” (Chapter 28 pg 269).

The Umbilical Cord: The Free Trade Agreement was supposed to push Mexico into the First World, but the day the agreement went into affect two leaders were assassinated and a huge crackdown came into place. (Chapter 15 pg 132)

“Inequality and instability go hand in hand” (pg 133).

Mexico

Iraq

The Former Iraq: Buffer, Black Hole, and Broken Boundary

“Wars are a geopolitical reset button” (Chapter 24, page 220).

“The Iraq war exposed the United States as a superpower whose intelligence does not match its aspirations” (page 221).

The Eastern Ottoman settlement will not be complete until the death of Iraq. (page 223)