A harrowing exploration of the collapse of American diplomacy and the abdication of global leadership.
American diplomacy is under siege. Offices across the State Department sit empty while abroad, the military-industrial complex has assumed the work once undertaken by peacemakers. We’re becoming a nation that shoots first and asks questions later.
In an astonishing account ranging from Washington, DC, to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and North Korea in the years since 9/11, acclaimed journalist and former diplomat Ronan Farrow illuminates one of the most consequential and poorly understood changes in American history. His firsthand experience in the State Department affords a personal look at some of the last standard-bearers of traditional statecraft, including Richard Holbrooke, who made peace in Bosnia and died while trying to do so in Afghanistan. Farrow’s narrative is richly informed by interviews with whistle-blowers, policymakers, and a warlord, from Henry Kissinger to Hillary Clinton. Diplomacy, Farrow argues, has declined after decades of political cowardice, shortsightedness, and outright malice – but it may just offer America a way out of a world at war.
Riveting book I couldnât put down War on Peaceâ is a riveting and thought-provoking book exploring the reasons behind the declining, though one hopes not dying, art and craft of US foreign diplomacy negotiation. Ronan Farrow, former US State Department diplomat and current journalist, details how the use of diplomacy has diminished over the last several presidencies, at the hands of ever increasing military power that is now used by the US as a replacement to foreign diplomacy. This trend started under President Reagan,…
Diplomacy Coordinated Through a Respected State Department is Critical to Advancing American Influence & Strives for Peace Just as roads, bridges, phone lines and such are essential infrastructure for an economy, foreign aid, diplomacy, and good will are essential for a nation seeking peaceful coexistence among nations. “War On Peace” by Ronan Farrow makes a powerful case regarding America’s drift away from diplomacy and towards dependence upon military solutions for its security.Before launching into my review of War On Peace, Iâm going to share two quotes from The Ultimate Book of…
Outstanding But Depressing Book. This is an outstanding book. It is very well written and provides substantial detail about many of our diplomatic efforts in the last twenty plus years as well as the dramatic decline in the Foreign Service. Farrow devotes many pages to the unsuccessful efforts of Richard Holbrooke to achieve some sort of diplomatic success in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Farrow worked at the State Department and served under Holbrooke whom Farrow admired but also considered very difficult and his own worst…