Fareed Zakaria Has a Better Way to Handle Russia — and China

<p>“Russia’s utterly unprovoked, unjustifiable, immoral invasion of Ukraine would seem to mark the end of an era,” <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/02/24/putin-invasion-ukraine-shows-why-liberal-democracy-worth-defending/?itid=ap_fareedzakaria" target="_blank">writes</a> Fareed Zakaria, “one that began with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.”</p><p>Many of us, myself included, grew up in that era. We came of age in a unipolar world, dominated by a single country whose military, economic, even cultural, hegemony remained largely uncontested. That world was by no means free of violence. But the great power conflict that had defined the lived experiences of previous generations seemed like an ancient relic.</p><p>Recently, it’s the post-Cold War era of the last 30 years that has begun to feel outdated. China has become an economic and military powerhouse — its economy is now larger than the third, fourth, fifth and sixth biggest world economies <i>combined</i>. Russia has become geopolitically assertive, annexing Crimea in 2014, undermining U.S. elections , and now invading Ukraine.</p><p>Over the past few weeks, questions that once came off as alarmist have become urgent: Are we witnessing the return of great power conflict? And if so, what does that mean for America — and the rest of the world?</p><p>Fareed Zakaria is the host of CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS,” a columnist for The Washington Post and one of the most brilliant analysts of this emerging era. His 2003 book <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393331523" target="_blank">“The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad” </a>and his 2008 book <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393340389" target="_blank">“The Post American World”</a> were well ahead of their times. And his more recent work on Russia’s aggression, China’s rise and the crucial distinctions between those nations is crucial for understanding this moment.</p><p>We discuss the decline of the so-called “Pax-Americana,” why Zakaria believes Russia poses a