The Grand Chessboard - American Primacy And Its Geostrategic Imperatives - - By Zbigniew Brzezinski April 1997

INTRODUCTION
Superpower Politics
EVER SINCE THE CONTINENTS started interacting politically, some five hundred years ago, Eurasia has
been the center of world power. In different ways, at different times, the peoples inhabiting Eurasia—though
mostly those from its Western European periphery—penetrated and dominated the world's other regions as
individual Eurasian states attained the special status and enjoyed the privileges of being the world's premier
powers.
The last decade of the twentieth century has witnessed a tectonic shift in world affairs. For the first time ever,
a non-Eurasian power has emerged not only as the key arbiter of Eurasian power relations but also as the
world's paramount power. The defeat and collapse of the Soviet Union was the final step in the rapid
ascendance of a Western Hemisphere power, the United States, as the sole and, indeed, the first truly global
power.
Eurasia, however, retains its geopolitical importance. Not only is its western periphery—Europe—still the
location of much of the world's political and economic power, but its eastern region— Asia—has lately become
a vital center of economic growth and rising political influence. Hence, the issue of how a globally engaged
America copes with the complex Eurasian power relationships— and particularly whether it prevents the
emergence of a dominant and antagonistic Eurasian power—remains central to America's capacity to exercise
global primacy.
It follows that—in addition to cultivating the various novel dimensions of power (technology,
communications, information, as well as trade and finance)—American foreign policy must remain concerned
with the geopolitical dimension and must employ its influence in Eurasia in a manner that creates a stable
continental equilibrium, with the United States as the political arbiter.
Eurasia is thus the chessboard on which the struggle for global primacy continues to be played, and that
struggle involves geostrategy—the strategic management of geopolitical interests. It is noteworthy that as
recently as 1940 two aspirants to global power, Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, agreed explicitly (in the secret
negotiations of November of that year) that America should be excluded from Eurasia. Each realized that the
injection of American power into Eurasia would preclude his ambitions regarding global domination. Each
shared the assumption that Eurasia is the center of the world and that he who controls Eurasia controls the
world. A half century later, the issue has been redefined: will America's primacy in Eurasia endure, and to what
ends might it be applied?
The ultimate objective of American policy should be benign and visionary: to shape a truly cooperative global
community, in keeping with long-range trends and with the fundamental interests of humankind. But in the
meantime, it is imperative that no Eurasian challenger emerges, capable of dominating Eurasia and thus also of
challenging America. The formulation of a comprehensive and integrated Eurasian geostrategy is therefore the
purpose of this book.