Po Leung Kuk Choi Kai Yau School Name:

IB Global Politics SHL Class / Option:

Unit 1: Power, Sovereignty, and
Teacher:
International Relations

Players and Pivots

Read the extract from Brzezinski’s The Great Chessboard and answer the questions that follow.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
PLAYERS
What makes a country a player?
What has changed? What has remained the same? What countries are the central players today?

PIVOTS
What makes a country a pivot?
What has changed? What has remained the same? What countries are the key pivots?

THE CHESSBOARD
If Eurasia is the chessboard on which the struggle for global primacy is to be played, then who are
the key players? who are the pivots?

What is the current world order? Who wants to control what? Is there a balance of power?
Take the Grand Chessboard metaphor further. Who are the chess players? How do they
manipulate the Chessboard?

13
RUSSIA
 Was Brzezinski right about Russia?
 Is the US in a “new Cold War” with Russia? with China?

SYRIA
 What’s Syria’s position on the Grand Chessboard today?

CHINA
 Is a rising China a threat to US hegemony?
 Should the US contain or engage China?
 What are the implications of the rise of China for The Global Chessboard?

THE UNITED STATES

 The purpose of Brzezinski’s book at the time was to answer the question: What ought to be
America’s global strategy to preserve and maintain its exceptional position in the world?
 Based on what you’ve read from Brzezinski’s book, how do you think he would advise the
US’s global strategy for maintaining its exceptional position in the world?
 Is the United States unipolar moment over?
 Is a multipolar world order to be welcomed?

14
Questions for thought:

GLOBALIZATION
 Are we living in a world of globalization or in a world of Great Powers? Are these
incompatible visions?
 What are the strengths and weaknesses of thinking about the world in geopolitical terms?

REALISM
 Does realism tell us all we really need to know about rising powers and power transitions?
 Which key concepts are central to this theoretical foundation?
 According to this theoretical foundation, who are the most important actors in global
politics?
 Through the lens of this theoretical foundation, what would a “good” society look like?

15