War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence

by Ronan Farrow

Hardcover, 2018

Call number

327.73 FAR

Collection

Nonfiction

Genres

General Nonfiction

History

Publication

W. W. Norton & Company (2018), Edition: 1, 432 pages

Description

United States foreign policy is undergoing a dramatic transformation. Institutions of diplomacy and development are reeling from deep budget cuts. The diplomats who make America's deals and protect its citizens around the world are walking out in droves. Offices across the State Department sit empty, while abroad the military-industrial complex has assumed the work once undertaken by peacemakers. In a journey from the corridors of power in Washington, DC, to some of the most remote and dangerous places on earth--Afghanistan, Somalia, and North Korea among them--investigative journalist Ronan Farrow illuminates one of the most consequential and poorly understood changes in American history. His firsthand experience as a State Department official 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. Drawing on newly unearthed documents, and richly informed by rare interviews with warlords, whistle-blowers, and policymakers--including every living secretary of state from Henry Kissinger to Hillary Clinton to Rex Tillerson--Farrow makes the case for an endangered profession.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Susan.Macura

Investigative reporter Farrow draws on his years working in the state department and his various contacts to produce a credible argument for the importance of diplomacy in today's chaotic world. He examines events in recent history, particularly since 9/11/2001, that reflect on the growth of

military influence in our government as opposed to the use of diplomatic efforts to solve worldwide issues. He argues that diplomacy should be supported by military force, not the other way around, which is what exists today. He discusses the further decline of diplomacy under Trump who appears to prefer loading his administration with ex-military people than seasoned diplomats and how Tillerson did more to destroy the state department than any other secretary of state. This is a thoughtful and insightful look at an important issue that is too often overlooked today.

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LibraryThing member nmele

About half of this book recounts the author's time working with and for Richard Holbrooke and as such makes more of a statement about the late diplomat's personality and career than a coherent argument about the role of civilians, diplomats, in shaping and carrying out foreign policy. The remainder

of the book makes a very effective argument for taking most of the power and a good bit of the money from the military and intelligence communities and putting them back into the hands of career, professional diplomats. Farrow bookends his work with the story of Thomas Countryman, someone I know n respect as a highly intelligent, highly dedicated public servant who was summarily dismissed in the midst of negotiations for no discernible reason. Unfortunately, there are now hundreds of stories like Tom's, dedicated civil servants, expert diplomats, dismissed without cause early in the Trump Administration. Farrow hints at many problems but takes aim at one that was growing even when I was still working as a U.S. diplomat, the swing toward military solutions for complex, often multi-lateral, issues in foreign relations. This isn't the book I had hoped Farrow wrote, but it is a damn good book!

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LibraryThing member writemoves

Wow, if I wasn't depressed enough about the status and standing of the United States in the world, Farrow threw buckets of cold water on any of my expectations for American exceptionalism. Farrow did a tour around the world and showed how ineffective our diplomatic efforts have been in Afghanistan,

North Korea, Columbia and Somalia. Farrow's interview with an obviously overmatched Rex Tillerson is worth the price of the book alone.

His description of Richard Holbrook's efforts to use statecraft and diplomacy to seek peace and resolution in Afghanistan is compelling reading. (Pretty obvious we can't trust anyone in that part of the world, especially Pakistan. This country looked the other way as dictators tortured and killed innocent civilians , including children.

Excellent journalism. A great book...

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LibraryThing member Jthierer

Farrow's thesis here is that U.S. foreign policy is leaning heavily toward military decision makers and, as a consequence, away from diplomats. While he offers quite a few examples of how U.S. foreign policy has failed to address the biggest, thorniest issues of the past decade (Afghanistan, the

Arab Spring, North Korea), I'm not sure he makes the case that those failures are because of a tilt toward military decision making rather than, for example, overinvolvement of domestic political actors or a desire for 'easy' wins over longterm planning. After all, diplomats could potentially be just as susceptible to those flaws as military leaders. That said, there's a lot of food for thought in this book, and I suspect I'll be thinking about it for quite awhile.

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LibraryThing member fmclellan

Engaging and sad look at the current state of diplomacy.

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