We often think of the modern era as the age of American power. In reality we're living in a
long violent Eurasian century. That giant resource-rich landmass possesses the bulk of the
global population industrial might and potential military power it touches all four of the
great oceans. Eurasia is a strategic prize without equal-which is why the world has been roiled
reshaped and nearly destroyed by clashes over the supercontinent. Since the early twentieth
century autocratic powers-from Germany under Kaiser Wilhelm II to the Soviet Union-have
aspired for dominance by seizing commanding positions in the world's strategic heartland.
Offshore sea powers namely the United Kingdom and America have sought to make the world safe
for democracy by keeping Eurasia in balance. America's rivalries with China Russia and Iran
are the next round in this geopolitical game. If this new authoritarian axis succeeds in
enacting a radically revised international order America and other democracies will be
vulnerable and insecure. Hal Brands a renowned expert on global affairs argues that a
better understanding of Eurasia's strategic geography can illuminate the contours of rivalry
and conflict in today's world. The Eurasian Century explains how revolutions in technology and
warfare and the rise of toxic ideologies of conquest made Eurasia the center of
twentieth-century geopolitics-with pressing implications for the struggles that will define the
twenty-first.
