Böcker av Serena Joseph-Harris

That China is a rising global power asserting her presence on the global stage is undeniableThe Twilight of America's Omnipresence is a groundbreaking erudition that deposes the mainstream meta-narrative of Empire and ushers in the notion of "omnipresence" in the context of the challenge now presented by China and other emerging centers of gravity to the United States on an imposing world stage. Omnipresence is about the effectuation of unparalleled sway held in subatomic, genetic and exotellurian domains, the influence and inevitable control over the collective human mind, a global information grid endowed with the wherewithal to integrate traditional forms of information with all-source intelligence, not to mention expansionism beyond all known spheres and into the realms of inner and outer space. These constitute the domains for the inevitable showdown. Simultaneous with formidable breakthroughs statehoods are collapsing, geopolitical blocs are being rattled by economic and social disruption and buckle in close succession under the bedlam, even as new and overwhelmingly invigorated state and non-state actors face off and make an all out lunge for end-day weaponry, scarce minerals and vital resources. Does this necessarily bode the concluding chapters of U.S. puissance?Whether and for how long America endures as the world's first and only superpower will be decided by three instrumentalities - ideas, ideology and technology.

The Alpha Barrier was officially featured at a Roundtable discussion facilitated by the National Defense University, Washington D.C. on April 7, 2010. On that occasion, strategic planners, policy personnel and decision makers representative of the highest levels of government discussed and offered perspectives on the arguments put forward in the book. Within 2 days of the Roundtable, two strategically timed and calibrated visits were launched to countries that were identified in the publication as key geo-strategic players that should be of immediate concern to the United States, 1. The visit of Defence Secretary Robert Gates in April. The visit of Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton in June The successive itineraries were specifically intended to bolster and consolidate accords in the area of defense cooperation, to reaffirm the commitment of the Obama administration to the promotion of cooperation and partnership and to render tangible support for the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative in the form of a $73 million Congressional budgetary allocation. The latter would fuel a collective regional offensive against the trafficking of drugs and firearms and effectively stymie the cross-border flows of illicit proceeds derived from the drug trade. These high-profiled visits have lent salience and relevancy to the arguments advanced in The Alpha Barrier...that there is a political imperative for the Obama administration to reinvigorate relationships between the United States and specific players in the south and thereby redress the legacy of diffused interest that typified the post 9/11 era. This compels the application of a new brand of statecraft that is compatible with a drastically altered strategic environment. Key components of this statecraft must necessarily be multilateralism and consensual decision making. The selective delivery of aid packages is merely a first step. The Alpha Barrier is an insightful book that touches on the above topics in detail, and offers clear-minded discussion on these very important issues.