Fareed Zakaria at the Ath
CNN's international issues commentator may not foresee a Post-American world after all
Vishnu Narasimhan
Last Updated: 12/28/09 Section: Books and Arts
Fareed Zakaria was this semester's Res Publica speaker, and so far, the biggest speaker at the Athenaeum this year. He spoke on a wide range of issues, ranging from the rise of Asia to how to fix Africa, and even about the "end of conservatism". I was very excited to see him speak at the Athenaeum because I respect him as one of a dying breed of mainstream journalists/TV personalities that holds and expresses reasoned, intelligent, and balanced opinions. Before the talk, it was unclear what exactly he would speak about, and this added to my excitement as the day of the event approached.
The Athenaeum was filled to capacity, and Zakaria carried with him a palpable aura of charisma as he interacted with students at the reception before the dinner. He began his speech on a humorous note with a jibe about the Libyan leader Gaddafi's female bodyguards, which left the crowd laughing hard. He then laid out what he saw as three major trends over the past twenty years that enabled the greatest period of prosperity and peace ever seen in the world. These trends, he said, are increases in economic stability, political stability, and technological interconnectedness. In contrast to alarmist media reports, Zakaria argued that as a result of these trends, we have actually seen the most peaceful times in human history.
1979, Zakaria expressed many times during his talk, was his favorite year of the 20th century. This was the year that the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, which was the catalyst for its decline. All major countries chose one economic path at this time, that of capitalism and free-markets. This was also when Paul Volcker became the Chairman of the Federal Reserve and began his policy of inflation targeting. The sheer stabilizing effect of this policy, according to Zakaria, is still under- appreciated. In the 70s, there were 35 countries that were experiencing hyperinflation, but in 2009 there is only one: Zimbabwe. I was impressed by his endorsement of free-markets and globalization as the only effective model to achieve long term economic growth. He highlighted, significantly, that 450 million people around the world have been raised out of poverty in the last twenty years, giving credit for this massive achievement to the large scale adoption of market economies.
The Athenaeum was filled to capacity, and Zakaria carried with him a palpable aura of charisma as he interacted with students at the reception before the dinner. He began his speech on a humorous note with a jibe about the Libyan leader Gaddafi's female bodyguards, which left the crowd laughing hard. He then laid out what he saw as three major trends over the past twenty years that enabled the greatest period of prosperity and peace ever seen in the world. These trends, he said, are increases in economic stability, political stability, and technological interconnectedness. In contrast to alarmist media reports, Zakaria argued that as a result of these trends, we have actually seen the most peaceful times in human history.
1979, Zakaria expressed many times during his talk, was his favorite year of the 20th century. This was the year that the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, which was the catalyst for its decline. All major countries chose one economic path at this time, that of capitalism and free-markets. This was also when Paul Volcker became the Chairman of the Federal Reserve and began his policy of inflation targeting. The sheer stabilizing effect of this policy, according to Zakaria, is still under- appreciated. In the 70s, there were 35 countries that were experiencing hyperinflation, but in 2009 there is only one: Zimbabwe. I was impressed by his endorsement of free-markets and globalization as the only effective model to achieve long term economic growth. He highlighted, significantly, that 450 million people around the world have been raised out of poverty in the last twenty years, giving credit for this massive achievement to the large scale adoption of market economies.
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