Zakaria's Mistake

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/20/business/media/scandal-threatens-fareed-zakarias-image-as-media-star.html?_r=1&ref=business

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"People with humility don't think less of themselves; they just think of themselves less." (Ken Blanchard and Norman Vincent Peale)
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Fareed Zakaria's "The Post-American World" was, for many reasons, the best non-fiction book written in 2008. He defined the world as he saw it then with the great story of our times being "the rise of the rest:" the growth of countries like China, India, Brazil, Russia, South Africa and many more. He made it interesting: I don't think many of us knew that Chinese Admiral Zheng He began expeditions to explore the world 87 years before Christopher Columbus in ships that were much larger and better constructed. On his first sailing, in 1405, he took 317 vessels and 28,000 men (compared with Columbus 4 boats and 150 sailors). The largest vessels in the Chinese fleet were over 400 feet! Each ship required so much wood that 300 acres of forest were felled to build a single one.

China was "ahead" (my term) before Western Europe and was charging to get "ahead" again. China's GDP growth over the last 30/40 years has been nothing short of exceptional.

To Zakaria (and his book editors), the challenge for America was/is political decline, "...for as others grow in importance, the central role of the United States has to shrink." While Zakaria may not have intended to put it this way, he was/is saying that the 21st century will be China's century and the U.S. needs to move over.

Between his books, feature articles in Time Magazine, and his television show, where he had(has) the power to "get" any world or business leader "on," Zakaria could frame any issue.

My problem, as a teacher, was to try to balance Zakaria's view (some people would call he and other well known economist/political scientists "declinists."), which students should hear, with other views which contradict Zakaria's vision. So, for example, George Friedman asks what "ocean" China controls? Like it or not, America controls "all" of them. Or, for example, several voices who ask what about China's "demographic?" Will China stall because it has lost a generation (or more) to the "one child policy?"

So, with this in mind, it was quite surprising to me that Zakaria was "suspended" last week for "plagiarism." Suddenly there was no "Fareed Zakaria: GPS" (Global Public Square) on CNN - his show is weekly and I (along with 25 million other people around the world) watch. He was suspended from Time, CNN and The Washington Post simultaneously. All parties investigated and restored him within a week (or, after his suspension ends). I don't think anybody thought his plagiarism was intentional but I do think he's doing what, even for him, is too many things at once.

Zakaria is a "brand." But, he's been given a message that he's taken on too much and he either needs help or needs to do less.

Zakaria is as good as it gets but he needs to be careful.