Recently a friend sent this over as "evidence that Obama is the most liberal candidate ever" with a footnote - its a Muslim's view.
Here was my response:
I haven't read the book, but it seems like your friend is already judging the book and the author based on an assumption of his/her religion? It would seem to be similar to saying we can't listen to someone's point of view because they are baptist, mormon or catholic. Besides, according to McCain, we should be most afraid of the Islamic extremists not necessarily muslims.
I have watched his show a few times and I think the far right conservative base is threatened by him because Fareed was critical of Bush's tax breaks for the very wealthy, the world's dislike for America because of our involvement in Iraq, and advocating for more open societies where countries with different languages and cultures can have increased dialogue.
According to the Murdoch owned New York weekly paper the Village Voice: Zakaria has weighed in on his Muslim background on only one occasion, telling the Village Voice, "I occasionally find myself reluctant to be pulled into a world that's not mine, in the sense that I'm not a religious guy."
Here is the summary from Fareed's website about what the book concerns (http://fareedzakaria.com/books/index.html)
"This is not a book about the decline of America, but rather about the rise of everyone else." So begins Fareed Zakaria's important new work on the era we are now entering. Following on the success of his best-selling The Future of Freedom, Zakaria describes with equal prescience a world in which the United States will no longer dominate the global economy, orchestrate geopolitics, or overwhelm cultures. He sees the "rise of the rest"—the growth of countries like China, India, Brazil, Russia, and many others—as the great story of our time, and one that will reshape the world. The tallest buildings, biggest dams, largest-selling movies, and most advanced cell phones are all being built outside the United States. This economic growth is producing political confidence, national pride, and potentially international problems. How should the United States understand and thrive in this rapidly changing international climate? What does it mean to live in a truly global era? Zakaria answers these questions with his customary lucidity, insight, and imagination.
Thanks for pointing it out. It seems like a timely and important look at what is going on with our country right now with respect to the rest of the world. With our economy looking dimmer and dimmer on a daily basis, I think it is important for Americans to understand how intertwined our economy is with the rest of the world and what it is going to look like as places like india and china continue to grow at a lightning pace - we are on the brink of really being a part of a global economy. The time of imperialistic strength by force may be coming to a close...the strongest players in the world are going to have to exert muscle in the international economic arena in order to have influence in the future.
-Eric
PS Fareed is widely considered to be a moderate/centrist - not liberal.
