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From George Packer's 'Our Man'
"The more important people become, the less they learn—they don't read as much, they have no time to waste productively, they talk to fewer locals on the receiving end of history"
amzn.to/2pmLOYn
"The more important people become, the less they learn—they don't read as much, they have no time to waste productively, they talk to fewer locals on the receiving end of history"
amzn.to/2pmLOYn
The more I get through George Packer's 'Our Man,' the more I'm reminded of just how bad Democratic administrations have been on foreign policy. Of course, Republican administrations have often been as bad or worse. (Which makes for a rather depressing recored overall)
This is perhaps not what others will get from the book, but it's striking to me just how damaging the 8 years of Bill Clinton's foreign policy were: Tragedy mixed with missed opportunities and a unique misreading of the moment and what it required
And this may not be what others get from the book either, but Obama comes across as brilliant but small-minded, unimaginative, and in his own way rather petty
Obama "didn't like big competitive personalities" and preferred "young, smart, ultra-loyal staffers." Obviously, that wasn't bound to work out well. Obama was, in practice if not necessarily in theory, uncomfortable with anyone who might challenge him intellectually
