Iran, North Korea, Syria, Brexit, Paris Agreement, China. Prime Minister Abe, Macron, Merkel, Xi, a fellow named Putin. At a time when U.S. foreign policy – when diplomacy itself – requires as much clarity and coordination and skill as it has in decades, ours has been going through – to put it diplomatically – a major transition.
You know the headlines: Thousands of State Department positions unfilled. Budgets slashed. Tillerson fired. One day we have the world’s biggest button; the next, we’re ready to travel across the world for a summit with a leader who just months ago was a madman.
How’d we get here?
That’s what Ronan Farrow has pieced together – through exceptional storytelling and just plain reporting – in his new book “War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence.” Farrow did the work, talking with every living Secretary of State. And what he’s pulled together is the story of not only the shrinking, but also the militarization, of U.S. foreign policy. And to be clear: It didn’t start with Trump.
You might have heard of Farrow. He’s a bit ubiquitous and, if you ask me, extraordinary. He just won a share of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for public service: his The New Yorker articles helped to uncover the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations and played an important part in fueling the #MeToo movement. He has been a lawyer, diplomat, journalist, and a Rhodes Scholar. He worked in the Obama State Department as Special Adviser for Humanitarian and NGO Affairs in the Office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, among other roles.
And as you’ll hear, he’s also extremely gracious, which is not a bad quality, even if you’re no longer a diplomat.
Jennifer Duffy, Cook Political Report
Mark McKinnon, co-founder of No Labels
Sasha Issenberg, Author of "The Victory Lab"
Tom Jensen, Pulic Policy Polling
Rick Hasen, election law expert
Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes, co-authors of HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton
Patrick Ruffini, Republican digital strategist
Amy Walter, Cook Political Report
Celinda Lake, Democratic pollster
Jeffrey Toobin, legal analyst for the New Yorker and CNN
Teddy Goff, digital director for President Obama's re-election campaign
Stan Greenberg, Democratic pollster
Inside the making of the State of the Union address
Jon Favreau, former speechwriter for President Obama
Mike Murphy, GOP media consultant
Steve Kornacki, Host of "Up with Steve Kornacki" on MSNBC
Chuck Todd, Chief White House correspondent and political director for NBC News
David Frum, author and former speechwriter for President George W. Bush
Joe Trippi, political consultant and media strategist
Frank Rich, writer at New York Magazine and Executive Producer of Veep on HBO
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