The Accidental Superpower

Ten Years On

By: Mr. Peter Zeihan

Narrated by: Mr. Peter Zeihan

Length: 13 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

With a new "10 years later" epilogue for every chapter, comes an eye-opening assessment of American power and deglobalization in the bestselling tradition of The World is Flat and The Next 100 Years.

Near the end of the Second World War, the United States made a bold strategic gambit that rewired the international system. Empires were abolished and replaced by a global arrangement enforced by the U.S. Navy. With all the world's oceans safe for the first time in history, markets and resources were made available for everyone. Enemies became partners.

We think of this system as normal—it is not. We live in an artificial world on borrowed time.

In The Accidental Superpower, international strategist Peter Zeihan examines how the hard rules of geography are eroding the American commitment to free trade; how much of the planet is aging into a mass retirement that will enervate markets and capital supplies; and how, against all odds, it is the ever-ravenous American economy that—alone among the developed nations—is rapidly approaching energy independence. Combined, these factors are doing nothing less than overturning the global system and ushering in a new (dis)order.

For most, that is a disaster-in-waiting, but not for the Americans. The shale revolution allows Americans to sidestep an increasingly dangerous energy market. Only the United States boasts a youth population large enough to escape the sucking maw of global aging. Most important, geography will matter more than ever in a de-globalizing world, and America's geography is simply sublime.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2014, 2023 Peter Zeihan (P)2023 Twelve

Critic reviews

"[A] lively, readable thesis on how the success or failure of nations may rest on the very ground beneath their feet...Anyone seeking a cogent, and provocative, take on where the world is heading should start here. Even if you don't fall in love with maps, you'll never look at them the same way again."—The Wall Street Journal

"In THE ACCIDENTAL SUPERPOWER, Peter Zeihan has explored a contemporary version of Napoleon's dictum that the power of countries derives from their geography. He brings a refreshingly novel and thought-provoking approach to understanding the rise of a U.S.-led global order, current threats, and why the U.S. will probably ride out the future better than others."—George Magnus, former Chief Economist and current Senior Advisor, UBS, and author of The Age of Ageing and Uprising

"An adventurous anatomy of how geography, demographics, and resources will sway the American future."—Laurence C. Smith, Professor and Chair of Geography at UCLA, and author of The World in 2050: Four Forces Shaping Civilization's Northern Future

Best predictions

Not an oracle but has as sound logic as you can get in a messy field of global politics.

Data based analysis

I liked the steady references to geography, age-demographics, energy, and transportation. Good hard data based evaluation is refreshing and must be taken seriously. It does not account for several other likely determinative elements; but most or all of those are murkier to evaluate and base any predictions on. I hope he’s wrong on much of the predicted desolations for much of the peoples of the world. Glad I read it.

Zeihan - Prophet

Do you feel like things are crazy and the news isn't telling you anything? Read / Listen to this book.

insightful world view

This guy is optimistic about America's future, but is a honest enough to bring up pessimistic sounding forecasts that have relevant supporting data. probably the best Geopolitical summary of the world yet written.

Updates were good - and his predictions from the first edition held strong.

I like the fact that he did an update rather than regurgitating the same theories, information and data under a different book title.

Brilliant

Peter's insight is second to none. Avoid reading this book at your own risk. After all, the future is already upon us, and there is absolutely no excuse for feigning ignorance.

Well done for the second time around!

So much to take from this I am likely to listen three or four times. Very insightful and honest evaluation of prior work.

Peter is a great story teller

Facts, stories and a great cadence make me love listening to Peter in all his books.

This was a great listen!!!

I did not listen to the original book but hearing Peter’s predictions and how accurate most of them were is amazing! Love the 10 years on sections at the end of each chapter as they give even more information and future predictions. Keep up the great work Petter and team! Hope you guys have a bottle of something “interesting”!

Just as good 10years latter

Great insight and foresight into global and economic factors that impact our world. I would recommend for anyone that is convinced the end of the US is upon us.