Customer Reviews

Memo to the President Elect: How We Can Restore America's Reputation and Leadership

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

My review is on the audio book. Audo is often a remarkably different experience from written books for me. Ms. Albright reads the book and is adept at this medium.

Ms. Albright points out in reading the foreward how the book differs from an actual memo to the president elect which would be confidential. She is clearly providing her perspective in a manner accessible to a broad audience. As a huge number of people have trouble with basic world facts and history. Her presentation provides context for the relatively uninitiated so the information and views she is providing may broadly digested and understood.

For people with more knowledge of politics and the world this may seem a unnecessary review of known facts and situations. This has been the point of some more negative reviews. For me these were a welcome presentation of familar territory through the eyes of Ms. Albright and helped set the mental stage for the common-sense and pithy observations and advise she provides throughout the text.

Ms. Albright takes some hits in other reviews for pointing out how our current policies have hurt our standing internationally. It is my opinion those who cheer on the USA like a football team - we are number 1! - without examining and accepting the global realities will not like this book. For me her presentation was refreshing. Recognizing and giving voice to areas of decline can provide the hope and opprotunity to reverse the trend and lead to improvent.

I hope the next president is wise enough to see and use her counsel. The experience and clarity will be invaluable to navigating the international mess we find ourselves left with.

I am not sure this would be a "page turner" for me in the print edition, but it is certainly a "disk changer" in the audio edition. The audio version is unabridged with 8.5h of audio on 8 CD's! I feel Ms. Albright's reading of the text adds appreciably to the book.

This book by a statesman whom I generally respect and like was a PROFOUND disappointment. I had gone into it with the hope that it would contain both an insiders look at the workings of the Clinton Foreign Policy Team as well as insights into how to address any number of thorny issues confronting us around the world. What I found was a basic overview of the cabinet and then several hours of platitudes and generalities about how the world works. She accurately, more or less, described the current situations in various hotspots around the world, less accurately explained how we got there, and then failed to offer any real solutions.

After getting about half way through, I thought that perhaps she was being very nuanced and indirect (she is after all a diplomat) and re read some portions. Alas, she was not being subtle, she just wasn't saying much. Also, it must be noted that her hatred of the Bush administration is not hidden at all. Granted several of her criticisms are spot on target but the bias was annoying. What made it worse was the fact that she never mentioned or analyzed any of Clinton's foreign policy disasters, and there were some that I wanted to hear her take on.

The result is a lot of nothing. There is no real guidance given. There are no great insights that would be beyond anyone who has been reasonably alert for the last ten years. There are no brilliant flashes or insights into history. Finally, there is no unbiased analysis. The result is a waste of time and money.

Particularly disturbing was her complete flight of fantasy at the end of the text where she presents a vision of what the world could look like in four years with an intelligent US foreign policy. Much of it was either totally unrealistic or based on the assumption that factors totally beyond our control will take place (for example that the Palastinians decide to go with Gandhi style non-violence). Put simply this book should only be read by University Freshman who may lack basic recent history or want a basic look at how the cabinet works.

Full disclosure: I am a Clintonian-Democrat with a Hawkish foreign policy.

Ms. Albright states that her latest book is the product of many minds. Broad themes, opinions about the Bush Administration, and general advice are consistent with her earlier books. In addition, her writers and editors have produced exceptionally clear prose. Muddy concepts are clarified, anecdotes are brief and pithy, and many dots are connected. Some tightly written paragaraphs are quotable gems. Page 150 and the middle of page 237 spring to mind.

Clearly the work of an experienced diplomat, the book is as much about attitude and style as about concrete policy advice. She scorns black and white thinking, rather asking the president-elect to weigh the interests of other parties in any interactions with soverign states.

Finally, it becomes clear by the last chapter, that only one of the 3 potential president-elects has style and views aligned with those expressed by Ms. Albright.

Disclaimer: I am a 70 year old Electrical Engineering Ph.D. nerd, happily married for 45 years with 3 children, 4 grandchildren, and 6 patents in 5 different fields. Partially retired, I am increasingly fascinated by human behavior, especially in the political arena.

Ideas concise & presented well. Not pompous. Seemed like very sound ideas to be considered.
I would recommend that the President Elect read it. Maybe fences can be mended.

The book of Madeleine Albright serves as a memo to the President Elect, a type of those she would lay on the table of the President every morning at the times she used to be a Secretary of State. Not surprisingly, the largest and the best part of the book considers the foreign policy with descriptions of the main policy areas; however, Albright leaves time to mundane advice (exercise every day) and stories about her daughters and Georgetown students.

The book might sound as a recollection of simple truths, and that is its main perceived weakness; Madeleine calls China the rising power, says that there is no simple solution to Iraqi problems, offers alliance with NATO and pays due attention to the United Nations. However, most valuable advices are simple and banal, and yet they are not followed, mainly due to controversial advice on part of political advisers. Madeleine says the next president is not there to change the world (as envisioned by the campaign), but rather to make it a comfortable place to live. She says that the US leadership is needed in the world, and yet not desired in so many places.

The book is full with vivid images and alive language; you will want to open it again once finished.

Madeleleine Albright, former Secretary of State and Ambassador to the UN, writes in in what is an almost lost art form, combining interesting anecdotes with complex details, to provide a lively and insightful perspective. It's as if someone combined the tart and wry commonsense of Miss Manners with the political and intellectual insights of Harvard professor (or in her case a Georgetown professor).

Ms. Albright discusses what the next president should consider doing to effectively run the government, and to engage in foreign policy that will restore the US's standing in the world. In the first section she gives advice on how to succeed as a president, such as how to best balance the relationships between the State Department, Defense Department and NSA, and how to be an effective leader. The advice is sprinkled with stories from her own experience, and from other administrations.

Her sense of humor is delightful. In a chapter entitle "Thy Staff Shall Comfort Thee" she write about selecting the Cabinet and staff. She says

"Selecting a cabinet is exhilarating but also aggravating. It is impossible to avoid hurt feelings when choosing one large ego over another. As President Taft complained, 'Every time I make an appointment, I create nine enemies and one ingrate'."


I particularly enjoyed the second section where she analyzes the foreign policy concerns in each region that the new president should consider. Here her deep knowledge of the history and relationships between the players becomes clear. I felt I had a much better understand of some of the regional dynamics, especially in the areas of North Korea and the political influence of Chavez in South America.

This book is a great read for anyone who is interested in the current state of international relations. While it's a survey, she gets at the essence of the issues. If you already know a lot about a region, her analysis may help to put the details into focus, if you have only a limited understanding of a region, it will make you want to know more.

Her focus in primarily on the question of "What next?" rather that how did we get to a point where so many countries are unhappy with the US. Clearly, she is no fan of Bush's foreign policy, but that does not dominate the book.

A fun read on current state of US foreign policy, filled with realistic advice for the future.

Wise, vastly knowledgeable, witty. A refreshing conversation with one of the country's more successful diplomats, long experienced in world affairs. Albright's observations on meeting Kim Jong-il in North Korea is worth the price alone. Her character judgements of world leaders is fascinating, enlightening. No mere book can be the answer to all the world's dangers, but Albright suggests plenty of ways, intelligent and insightful, to avoid mistakes and hopefully lead the country out of the mess brought on by an extremely unpopular, inept administration.

I especially enjoyed this book - even more than her previous ones. I think she brings an informed and experienced perspective to the "state of the U.S." in the eyes of the rest of the world. This should be required reading for high school students and beyond!

If only this was a Marx Brothers routine, we could laugh it off, but this tap-dancing foreign policy amongst Democrats has been a legacy of insipid, cowering and toothless foreign policy. Maintaining this bureaucratic status quo of the Democrats is NOT a success story, as Madeleine Dimlight would have you believe. Rather, it is a pablum-puking foreign policy which has fostered terrorism by providing ample time to spread Islamo-fascism amongst moderate Islamic nations globally. I will never forget the Iranian debacle under Carter, or the entire Bosnian milieu under Clinton, or how the U.S. could have had Usaama bin Laden in Sudan, ripe for the picking. And we only have to recall the slaughter in Somalia under Clinton to recognize the blunders under the Democrats watch. How dare Ms. Dimlight call any of her tenure something worthy of emulating.

Secretary Albright has a wealth of experience in foreign affairs - both in academia and practice. Unfortunately, little comes through in this rather bland. Topics covered include choosing Cabinet members, the role of the NSC, inter-agency politics, other routes to the President (aka Nancy Reagan, "Friends of Bill,", negotiations, the role of interpreters. Etc.

Then there are quick backgrounds on Latin America and its problems and leaders, dangers of democratic elections, issues in Asia, the U.S.' role in antagonizing Iran and beginning its nuclear program, etc.

Any President finding help in this book is in serious trouble and is not qualified to lead.