The Long Game
How Obama Defied Washington and Redefined America's Role in the World
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $17.99
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
In this inside assessment of Barack Obama's foreign policy legacy, Derek Chollet tackles the prevailing consensus to argue that Obama has profoundly altered the course of American foreign policy for the better and positioned the United States to lead in the future.
The Long Game combines a deep sense of history with new details and compelling insights into how the Obama Administration approached the most difficult global challenges. With the unique perspective of having served at the three national security power centers during the Obama years -- the White House, State Department, and Pentagon -- Chollet takes readers behind the scenes of the intense struggles over the most consequential issues: the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the meltdown of Syria and rise of ISIS, the Ukraine crisis and a belligerent Russia, the conflict in Libya, the tangle with Iran, the turbulent relationship with Israel, and the rise of new powers like China.
An unflinching, fast-paced account of U.S. foreign policy, The Long Game reveals how Obama has defied the Washington establishment to redefine America's role in the world, offering important lessons for the next president.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Chollet (coauthor of America Between the Wars), a "card-carrying member" of "Washington's foreign policy establishment" and former Obama Administration staffer, sets out a lucid but not wholly persuasive case for the president's foreign policy. Identifying a paradox where right-wing critics see Obama as weak and left-wing critics see him as overbearing, Chollet contextualizes the foreign affairs environment that the president inherited, describes his early diplomatic actions, takes the reader through a series of recent international incidents (Syria's use of chemical weapons, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Iran's nuclear program, the rise of ISIS), and makes a checklist of qualities of Obama's "long game," including precision, restraint, and balance. Chollet only intermittently describes his own experiences, primarily taking an analytical approach. To supplement his memory and support his case, he pulls from the memoirs and speeches of Obama and his cabinet (most notably Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates) and analysis from recent articles in the popular press. Chollet provides cursory admissions of mistakes and alternative approaches but never thoroughly engages with criticisms or examines controversial aspects of Obama's approach, such as the increased reliance on drone strikes. The conclusions feel like a predetermined defense of Obama against his critics.
