Re-recommending: The Next Decade: Where We Have Been…and Where We Are Going

I have been re-reading George Friedman's 2011 book The Next Decade: Where We Have Been…and Where We Are Going, listed in my book list (see sidebar) and recommended several years ago. Seven years on some things have changed and evolved (for example, the EU is in chaos and ISIS has come - and largely gone again - and the Arab Spring has come - and largely gone again). But in general the same major geopolitical issues remain, and his 2011 analysis of them is still relevant.

Friedman argues in this book for the things the US ought to do in its foreign policy to attend to its real national interests in a pragmatic way (as opposed to ideological fantasies). The Trump administration thus far is doing some of them, but by no means all of them. On the other hand, the Trump administration is probably doing more of them than a Clinton administration would have, or for that matter than Sanders or Rubio or any of the other also-rans in the last election would have done. 

Rereading the book reminds me again how shallow the public (meaning the voters, the political activists, and the media commentators) understanding is of either the history of most major foreign policy issues, or of the pragmatic realities of dealing with international relations.

I strongly recommended this book at the time. I re-recommend it now - a re-reading is a worthwhile activity as we watch the Trump administration evolve.