I hope to share with you what some of these people are doing and thinking—from Eastern Europe and Central Asia, to South America and Southeast Asia. Rich or poor, powerful or disenfranchised, their views matter. People in countries which I refer to as “Second World” are not the tail end of globalization, but its frontier. They will show us both the new possibilities for connecting in an interdependent world but also the limitations of our own way of life. International relations, I believe, is becoming a lot like inter-personal relations.

The purpose of my book is two-fold: to show the gap between American power and influence around the world—a gap which is increasingly being filled by other powers such as Europe, China, India and others. My other goal is to show that the majority of countries in the world are neither first world, postmodern societies nor underdeveloped, third world states. Rather, most places are a mix of both, hence “second world.” This is not a temporary condition, but a serious, lasting challenge to the stability of most states. America, more than most people are willing to admit, is a second world country.

I am going to ask people what their ambitions and goals are, and which model they seek to follow in developing their countries. What I expect to find is that modernization and globalization don’t impose a straitjacket of Americanization, but rather empower societies to pursue their “own way.” India is a perfect example of this. Globalization has enabled Indians worldwide to exist in a increasingly dense web I call “Bollystan” (http://www.theglobalist.com/DBWeb/StoryId.aspx?StoryId=4279 ), where who you are and what you are doing is more important than where you are. It’s this innovative, interconnected “Global India”—not nuclear weapons—which are making India a great power.

I hope this blog will become a forum for these diverse threads, where culture and influence intersect, and globalization becomes a vehicle for interaction and reflection.

Parag Khanna

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