The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria

Just published by Norton. 291 pp. $25.95

After the Iraq war, Fareed Zakaria argued in his Newsweek column that the world's new organizing principle was pro-or anti-Americanism. But as the Iraq muddle drags on and China rises, the larger story of the post-Cold War era has come into sharp relief. We are not the center of the universe. My comment: China,the Middle Kingdom i.e. Zhong Guo is the center of the world in reference to economic growth rate.

Zakaria zooms in on Asia, especially India and China, which he uses as proxies for the rest. For the first time ever, we are witnessing genuinely global growth and how China's economy has doubled every eight years. Reviewed by Parag Khanna, a fellow at the New America Foundation and author of "The Second World."

Published by Book World of the Washington Post, May 18, 2008