
The Age of Illusions
How America Squandered Its Cold War Victory
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Narrated by:
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Andrew Bacevich
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Rob Shapiro
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By:
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Andrew Bacevich
About this listen
A thought-provoking and penetrating account of the post-Cold war follies and delusions that culminated in the age of Donald Trump from the best-selling author of The Limits of Power.
When the Cold War ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Washington establishment felt it had prevailed in a world-historical struggle. Our side had won, a verdict that was both decisive and irreversible. For the world’s “indispensable nation”, its “sole superpower”, the future looked very bright. History, having brought the United States to the very summit of power and prestige, had validated American-style liberal democratic capitalism as universally applicable.
In the decades to come, Americans would put that claim to the test. They would embrace the promise of globalization as a source of unprecedented wealth while embarking on wide-ranging military campaigns to suppress disorder and enforce American values abroad, confident in the ability of US forces to defeat any foe. Meanwhile, they placed all their bets on the White House to deliver on the promise of their Cold War triumph: unequaled prosperity, lasting peace, and absolute freedom.
In The Age of Illusions, best-selling author Andrew Bacevich takes us from that moment of seemingly ultimate victory to the age of Trump, telling an epic tale of folly and delusion. Writing with his usual eloquence and vast knowledge, he explains how, within a quarter of a century, the United States ended up with gaping inequality, permanent war, moral confusion, and an increasingly angry and alienated population, as well, of course, as the strangest president in American history.
USA Today Best Books of the Year - 2020
©2020 Andrew J. Bacevich (P)2020 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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"peace has cost you your strength, victory has defeated you."
meticulous accessibility
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Excellent analysis of the “End of History” Era
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personally speaking I doubt that it'll change.
Sobering Bit of Analysis
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An explanation of the rise of Trump
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But the book is so much more: a nearly up-to-the-moment analysis of the intersection of international policy and politics in a blow-by-blow president by president rundown of the post cold war Era.
His takes on all contemporary politicians are well informed, realistic and right on point.
While this is a quick read, it carries more than its weight in valuable insights. I am pretty convinced.
Give 'The Age of Illusions' a try. I recommend it. £
A very good very much needed book. The best analys
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A great way to get focused on why the past matters
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Afternote: as the millennial I am, I thought his military perspective was particularly enlightening. In places his cultural observations were thin, but still accurate and approached with humility.
Best explanation of US politics I can find
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Objective and to the point
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A fantastic eye-opening book!
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I'll also disagree with the positive reviewers that describe this book as any more than a historical brief. There are events in this book that are briefly touched on, and that I now wish to read much more about. The actual aim of the book is to frame what the 2016 election was really about. On that side of things, I found the book agreeable.
While I was reading I wondered if the book misunderstood the concept it describes as the "Emerald City." I couldn't help but think of Steven Pinker's book Enlightment Now. That book makes the point that the wider society, including those of us not doing well financially, have more and better access to creature comforts than ever before. He describes modern day life for a person with modest income having features and benefits that higher classes didn't have many decades ago. Point being, if we were already in the Emerald City, would we even know it? Perhaps we didn't fail to reach the Emerald City, but instead failed to recognize it altogether. We're facing new challenges, wrought by globalization as Mr. Bacevich correctly points out.
On reflection, I think his point is that the Emerald City was always an illusion (hence the awful title of the book). If that's the case, he's definitely right. I think he makes a good point that the end of the cold war resulted in taking our foot off the brakes. The national debt would seem to confirm this.
Anyway I'm sure I have much more to contemplate and learn about this from Mr. Bacevich. I found out about his book on the Bloggingheads podcast. I had stopped about 10 minutes in because the topic was interesting, then resumed after finishing the book. All in all, I'm quite glad I've listened.
Badly named, but pretty good overall
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