The Grand Chessboard – Zbigniew Brzezinski

Although i read it in english because the book was cheaper than the french translation, it wasn’t that difficult to read (apart a few words that i didn’t get). But i didn’t record all the points Dr Brzezinski talked about. But the subject of the book is clear and the two cornerstones are well- delimited: the talk turn around the subject of the primacy of the american global power on the Eurasia which is called the “Chessboard”. This book was written during the 90′s, which saw the fall of the Soviet Union and the primacy of the american power on Eurasia through its double bridgehead: European Union and Japan. The two main points of the books are the way to block the main geostrategic players of Eurasia: namely Russia and China. Two zones, in Dr Brzezinski’s opinion, must be carefully monitored: south east Asia, to cope with the growing influence of China through bilateral economic partnership with South East asian States, and the power of the chinese diaspora in these states, and the Central Asian States, which detain a lot of ressources like gas and oil. This particular region is bordered by many geostrategic regional player like China, Russia, Iran, India, which could spark tensions between them, and with United States. The authro explain to us the ways America should try to engage the different players to promote stability and save his position as a global power and the strongest power in Eurasia.