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The Jungle Grows Back
- America and Our Imperiled World
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
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Summary
"An incisive, elegantly written, new book about America’s unique role in the world." (Tom Friedman, The New York Times)
A brilliant and visionary argument for America's role as an enforcer of peace and order throughout the world - and what is likely to happen if we withdraw and focus our attention inward.
Recent years have brought deeply disturbing developments around the globe. American sentiment seems to be leaning increasingly toward withdrawal in the face of such disarray. In this powerful, urgent essay, Robert Kagan elucidates the reasons why American withdrawal would be the worst possible response, based as it is on a fundamental and dangerous misreading of the world.
Like a jungle that keeps growing back after being cut down, the world has always been full of dangerous actors who, left unchecked, possess the desire and ability to make things worse. Kagan makes clear how the "realist" impulse to recognize our limitations and focus on our failures misunderstands the essential role America has played for decades in keeping the world's worst instability in check. A true realism, he argues, is based on the understanding that the historical norm has always been toward chaos - that the jungle will grow back, if we let it.
Critic reviews
"A devastating riposte to [Trump's] careless, cynical and destructive approach to diplomacy.... [Kagan] is right to detect a crisis of confidence in the democratic world. He sets out his case with characteristic brilliance and conviction." (The Economist)
"[S]o important... In clear and forceful language, [The Jungle Grows Back] makes the case for America continuing its role as the guarantor of a liberal world order." (Eli Lake, Bloomberg)
"The Jungle Grows Back displays the characteristic Kagan virtues of lucid writing and thought - and a strong sense of history that adds drama and sweep to his argument." (Gideon Rachman, The Financial Times)
What listeners say about The Jungle Grows Back
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- Good Grain
- 30-09-18
Disappointingly stuck on well trodden ground
Nothing fresh. Kagan who is a master of writing short but insightful books avoids tackling the Trump foreign policy except in a very cursory way. This is notably disappointing because he does a great job of concisely explaining the international order of the last 75 years. This could have laid the groundwork for a far more rigourous engagement with recent events, placing them in a larger historical context. The book just doesn't offer anything fresh in this regard although it does make an effort and overall is well worth a listen.
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