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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
Informative book. I learned a lot. I just wish she had announced she was running for President. :) Of course, after reading this I will understand if she chooses not to do so. It's a lot to ask of someone who's been in politics for decades.
Recommend to anyone who enjoys politics and learning.
Recommend to anyone who enjoys politics and learning.
Hilary's life as Secretary Of State was full of Hard Choices - we know this because she mentions the phrase in every chapter I read.
What she also mentions is how it is seemingly America's place to police the world and facilitate democracy wherever it is found lacking.
She's also honest enough to admit that the majority of her diplomatic work is aimed at boosting American trade, which adds somewhat to the already smug tone of the book.
I get that she's had an interesting four years, and I understand that there are things that can't be talked about, but with each passing chapter I felt I was learning less and less about Hilary Clinton and more about how important America thinks it is these days.
Burma was quite interesting, and the fun and games with a Chinese dissident was alright, but overall the chapters were dry and lacked colour, humour and personality.
I got so bored I skipped ahead to the Benghazi chapter - only to find a near perfect 'we did it by the book' account of what we are allowed to know.
She'll make a good president, that much is clear, but not finishing this book was the easiest choice of all.
What she also mentions is how it is seemingly America's place to police the world and facilitate democracy wherever it is found lacking.
She's also honest enough to admit that the majority of her diplomatic work is aimed at boosting American trade, which adds somewhat to the already smug tone of the book.
I get that she's had an interesting four years, and I understand that there are things that can't be talked about, but with each passing chapter I felt I was learning less and less about Hilary Clinton and more about how important America thinks it is these days.
Burma was quite interesting, and the fun and games with a Chinese dissident was alright, but overall the chapters were dry and lacked colour, humour and personality.
I got so bored I skipped ahead to the Benghazi chapter - only to find a near perfect 'we did it by the book' account of what we are allowed to know.
She'll make a good president, that much is clear, but not finishing this book was the easiest choice of all.
After reading about her time as Secretary of State I am even more excited to vote for Hillary Clinton in November. The chapters on Libya and Benghazi were heartbreaking but, as with the rest of the book, very enlightening.
medium-paced
Really interesting time to read about. I like her writing style and her determination to face the situations she faced.
Well crafted, both as a narrative and as a political document establishing a platform in anticipation of a presidential run.
If this a manifesto for someone running to be President of the most powerful country on earth then it is a damning inditement on the American political system.
The Author is immensely well known, clearly one of the most accomplished diplomats of our time and probably a polymath. So why has she felt the need to churn out 600 pages of over simplification? Every topic covered in the book is reduced to the balancing the moral values of America against the country's economic and geopolitical aims. This is diplomacy stripped bare. I imagine a transcript of the thoughts bouncing around the inside of Ronald Reagan's head would have sounded much like this, but somehow it is unsuited for the world of 2014 where, perhaps, there are just a few more shades of grey.
The book is actually surprisingly well written, it is amusing and suspenseful in places. Indeed the account of the raid on the US consulate in Benghazi reads like a thriller, albeit one where real people died. Clinton has decided to divide the book by challenge and it works quite well, although it means that the same meeting crops up over and over again. The balkanisation of the narrative does however lead to issues which are intimately connected being viewed as separate. Syria, Libya and Egypt, for example, have their own chapters when they are all part of the same Arab Spring saga.
The biggest problem with this book is that having trawled through it, (I warn you it will take a while) you don't end up knowing that much about Hillary Clinton. For example, I know she stands for a 'free' and 'open' economy but I have no idea whether she is Keynesian, a neo-liberal or a Blair/Clinton (Bill) third wayer. Her plan for jobs seems to be mercantilist, for example, which may work for Luxembourg, but is unlikely to do much for America. Of course I don't think she really believes that the US president should go on global tours flogging American wares, but she hasn't said so.
And perhaps thats the moral of the story: Political debate in the US has got to the point that a sensible, grown up conversation about things like debt, jobs and trade have become a disadvantage and the easiest way to become president is to tub-thump about bombing the Middle-East and mutter pleasantries about "standing up for our values" which, lets face it, Glenn Beck probably agree with.
The Author is immensely well known, clearly one of the most accomplished diplomats of our time and probably a polymath. So why has she felt the need to churn out 600 pages of over simplification? Every topic covered in the book is reduced to the balancing the moral values of America against the country's economic and geopolitical aims. This is diplomacy stripped bare. I imagine a transcript of the thoughts bouncing around the inside of Ronald Reagan's head would have sounded much like this, but somehow it is unsuited for the world of 2014 where, perhaps, there are just a few more shades of grey.
The book is actually surprisingly well written, it is amusing and suspenseful in places. Indeed the account of the raid on the US consulate in Benghazi reads like a thriller, albeit one where real people died. Clinton has decided to divide the book by challenge and it works quite well, although it means that the same meeting crops up over and over again. The balkanisation of the narrative does however lead to issues which are intimately connected being viewed as separate. Syria, Libya and Egypt, for example, have their own chapters when they are all part of the same Arab Spring saga.
The biggest problem with this book is that having trawled through it, (I warn you it will take a while) you don't end up knowing that much about Hillary Clinton. For example, I know she stands for a 'free' and 'open' economy but I have no idea whether she is Keynesian, a neo-liberal or a Blair/Clinton (Bill) third wayer. Her plan for jobs seems to be mercantilist, for example, which may work for Luxembourg, but is unlikely to do much for America. Of course I don't think she really believes that the US president should go on global tours flogging American wares, but she hasn't said so.
And perhaps thats the moral of the story: Political debate in the US has got to the point that a sensible, grown up conversation about things like debt, jobs and trade have become a disadvantage and the easiest way to become president is to tub-thump about bombing the Middle-East and mutter pleasantries about "standing up for our values" which, lets face it, Glenn Beck probably agree with.
I was hoping to read about Hillary, instead I read about Hillary's accomplishments. I gave up after 3 CDs (out of 21), only hints of her as a person vs Secretary of State. I was hoping to be inspired by a book written by such a powerful woman. Unfortunately the subject matter of US foreign policy is not enough of interest to keep going.
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, which is written in a very accessible way and gave me a lot of food for future thought. I picked it up for a number of reasons, not least of which is Hillary's current run for president.
Don't read this book if:
-you already hate Hillary, for whatever reason (but especially if the reason involves a conspiracy theory or if you think Hillary is a liar). This will likely just add fuel to your (in my opinion, probably misguided) fire.
-you want a political treatise or an in-depth analysis of the first four year's of Obama's foreign policy.
-you already have strong opinions on how the US should handle foreign policy, especially in certain countries, that by-and-large go against how the Obama administration has handled things. This will likely just add fuel to your (in my opinion, probably misguided) fire.
Do read this book if:
-you have an open mind about Hillary despite disagreeing with some of her choices or wondering about the truth of some of the political negativity that can surround her at times.
-you are interested in getting a more anecdotal or layman's view of the US's foreign policy in action.
-you are curious to know what kinds of strategic balancing is required to for the US to made foreign policy decisions.
-you want to get a sense of what it's like to be a woman representing the US abroad at the highest diplomatic level, and the challenges or advantages posed by gender.
While I didn't agree or accept everything that was in this book, it gave me a sense of perspective on why certain things were or are done in certain ways, why sometimes US leadership on global issues, especially in the role of mediator, can really be a good thing, and how diplomatic outreach can either be extremely beneficial or go totally awry (or both). Luckily there are examples of both good and bad outcomes in the book (I tend to think US involvement is a bad thing), so overall it improved my opinion of the State Department and the US's actions (not in every case, but overall). It's also amazing how so many things can change in just one year (she writes that she worked on the book in 2013-14, and her chapter on the Arab Spring is so optimistic as to be almost heartbreaking).
So if you're interested in contemporary global politics, and you keep an open mind, you will likely get a lot of this book, as I did.
Don't read this book if:
-you already hate Hillary, for whatever reason (but especially if the reason involves a conspiracy theory or if you think Hillary is a liar). This will likely just add fuel to your (in my opinion, probably misguided) fire.
-you want a political treatise or an in-depth analysis of the first four year's of Obama's foreign policy.
-you already have strong opinions on how the US should handle foreign policy, especially in certain countries, that by-and-large go against how the Obama administration has handled things. This will likely just add fuel to your (in my opinion, probably misguided) fire.
Do read this book if:
-you have an open mind about Hillary despite disagreeing with some of her choices or wondering about the truth of some of the political negativity that can surround her at times.
-you are interested in getting a more anecdotal or layman's view of the US's foreign policy in action.
-you are curious to know what kinds of strategic balancing is required to for the US to made foreign policy decisions.
-you want to get a sense of what it's like to be a woman representing the US abroad at the highest diplomatic level, and the challenges or advantages posed by gender.
While I didn't agree or accept everything that was in this book, it gave me a sense of perspective on why certain things were or are done in certain ways, why sometimes US leadership on global issues, especially in the role of mediator, can really be a good thing, and how diplomatic outreach can either be extremely beneficial or go totally awry (or both). Luckily there are examples of both good and bad outcomes in the book (I tend to think US involvement is a bad thing), so overall it improved my opinion of the State Department and the US's actions (not in every case, but overall). It's also amazing how so many things can change in just one year (she writes that she worked on the book in 2013-14, and her chapter on the Arab Spring is so optimistic as to be almost heartbreaking).
So if you're interested in contemporary global politics, and you keep an open mind, you will likely get a lot of this book, as I did.
Good read! It was interesting to read about political events I wasn't as informed about that happened years ago. With the elections coming upon us quickly and the news being more concerned about pop-culture events than political events that will affect our whole world, it was good to get myself thinking in the Leslie Knope frame of mind :)