Memo to the President Elect: How We Can Restore America's Reputation and Leadership
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Thursday, October 23rd 2008 07:00 PM
In
Memo to the President Elect (Harperluxe), former Secretary of State Albright offers a persuasive, wide-ranging set of recommendations to the next president by drawing on her extensive experience as an adviser to two presidents and a key figure in four presidential transitions. This event is co-presented by the World Affairs Council of Oregon.
Please note: This ticketed event takes place at the Bagdad Theater, 3702 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Tickets, $15, include admission and a copy of Memo to the President, and are available at the Bagdad Theater box office, the Crystal Ballroom box office, Ticketmaster.com, and all Ticketmaster outlets. Books will be distributed at the event.
Synopses & Reviews
The next president, whether Democrat or Republican, will face the daunting task of repairing America's core relationships and tarnished credibility after the damage caused during the past seven years. In
Memo to the President Elect, former secretary of state and bestselling author Madeleine Albright offers provocative ideas about how to confront the striking array of challenges that the next commander-in-chief will face and how to return America to its rightful role as a source of inspiration across the globe.
Much more than a set of policy prescriptions, Secretary Albright's writing blends lessons from the past with forward-looking suggestions about how to assemble a first-rate foreign policy team, anticipate the actions of other key countries, make full use of presidential power without repeating the excesses of the Bush administration, and revive America's commitment to its founding ideals.
Albright's advice is candid — as conveyed in a confidential memo — and seasoned with humor and stories from her years in office. Drawing on her extensive experience as an advisor to two presidents and a key figure in four presidential transitions, she provides an insider's analysis of U.S. options in addressing the decisive issues of our era: terrorism, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, rivalries in the Middle East, the potential for nuclear war, and headaches created by such troublesome leaders as Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Russia's Vladimir Putin, Venezuela's Hugo Chávez, and North Korea's Kim Jong-il.
The 2008 election promises to be one of the most dramatic in our nation's history. Memo to the President Elect offers indispensable guidance for the next occupant of the White House — and a wealth of insights for voters to think about before deciding who that person will be.
Review:
"Bill Clinton's secretary of state dispenses advice both geostrategic ('The first rule for intervening in a civil war is don't') and mundane ('Leave time for exercise') in this engaging foreign policy primer for the next White House occupant. Much of her wry wisdom concerns the muddled nuts-and-bolts of policy making, covering such topics as the indecipherability of satellite photos, the near-impossibility of getting the Washington bureaucracy to follow through on presidential initiatives and the importance of sounding out dissenters. The book provides briefings on world regions and hot spots that will likely preoccupy the next administration, with recommendations that are sometimes specific — lift the embargo on Cuba, Albright suggests — but usually noncommittal. ('There are no good options in Iraq,' the author opines, though she foresees a split into three autonomous regions as the most stable way to proceed.) Between the lines, she articulates a Clintonian approach to the world — moderate and solicitous of allies and world opinion, wary of force but willing to use it. She's anything but diplomatic on the subject of President Bush's foreign policy, especially the invasion of Iraq. Savvy and tart, Albright's is an unusually interesting presentation of centrist thought." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
Book News Annotation:
Writing as if she were directly addressing the next president, former
US Secretary of State Albright proffers her advice on the conduct of
US foreign policy in the coming years, frequently drawing on her own
experience and the history of past administrations as illustrative
material. She addresses political and administrative issues first,
including managing the White House staff and the art of political
persuasion, and then provides her thoughts on terrorism; the wars in
Afghanistan and Iraq; relations with Iran, Russia, China, Venezuela,
and North Korea; and a range of other issues. Those familiar with her
tenure at Foggy Bottom will not likely find anything particularly
shocking in these pages, as Albright has maintained similar
perspectives to those she held while in office.
Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Review:
"If [Albright's] prose isn't exciting, it makes sense and is reasonably presented — something so removed from today's electoral zeitgeist that it seems almost unique. Chicago Tribune
Review:
"In a quiet, reasonable, and witty way, the former secretary of state explores the foreign-policy decisions that the next president, whomever he is, must face after the balloons and balls are ended." Boston Globe
Synopsis:
Former Secretary of State Albright offers a persuasive, wide-ranging set of recommendations to the next president by drawing on her extensive experience as adviser to two presidents and a key figure in four presidential transitions.
About the Author
Madeleine Albright served as U.S. secretary of state from 1997 to 2001, the first woman ever to hold the position. Her distinguished career in government includes positions in the National Security Council, on Capitol Hill, and as a U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.