William Drozdiak

Suppose you pick this book up and sample it by reading the Introduction and become frustrated by the author’s circular, repetitious writing. In that case, you’ve already discovered the book’s main flaw. William Drozdiak is an experienced journalist and think-tank expert on European affairs. He has the credibility and contacts that get him interviews with presidents, prime ministers, and other leaders. But if I go through the book with a red pencil and strike every time he makes a point for the second or fifth time, the remainder would be half as long as this book.
Each chapter bears the title of one or more world capital. The first two, Berlin and London, offer little that won’t be familiar to anyone who kept up with the news in the 2010s. They are the weakest chapters in the book, which may have caused many potential readers to bail. When Drozdiak turns to Paris in Chapter Three, he opens with a finely-observed, detailed description of entering the Elysée Palace that expresses the point he wants to make about France. At this point, I decided to persevere and finish the book.
It’s a shame the book isn’t better, for Drozdiak’s topic is critical. He wrote in 2017, in the immediate aftermath of Donald Trump taking office and jeopardizing the seventy-year bipartisan commitment to a strong Atlantic partnership as the cornerstone of a stable world order. As Drozdiak writes in Chapter Twelve, Washington, D. C.: “The world stands at a hinge moment in history. The post-Cold War order is coming to an end.” This is no less true now, six years later. Trump is no longer president, but the America First ideology he embraced hasn’t been repudiated by the large minority he spoke for.
Like many books on current affairs, this book will be overtaken in time by more recent treatments. But it will remain a time capsule, a valuable overview of a moment fraught with challenges.… (mer)