Author(s): Peter Zeihan

Current Affairs

In THE ACCIDENTAL SUPERPOWER international strategist Peter Zeihan examines how geography, combined with demography and energy independence, is paving the way for one of the great turning points in history, and one in which America reasserts its global dominance. From a geographic standpoint, no modern country has a greater network of internal waterways, a greater command of deepwater navigation, or a firmer hold on industrialization technologies than America. Such factors have been historically significant in the success of past world powers, from the Ottoman Empire's control of the Danube, to England's mastery of the seas, to Germany's industrial infrastructure. Zeihan goes on to show how modern demographics have distorted, with America now the only developed country with enough young adults to maintain both economic growth and capital generation beyond 2020. Finally, THE ACCIDENTAL SUPERPOWER explores shale oil and its surprising key role not only in America's move towards energy independence but also how it will shape (and is already shaping) American power for the next twenty years.