PositiveThe San Francisco ChronicleIs Farrow right? Has the United States turned its back on diplomacy, and on its diplomats? And if so, at what cost? Farrow makes a good case that we have, and that the cost will be high ... Farrow makes the case well that, given our recent history, Trump is not (wholly) an aberration, but a toxic extension of trends in place. In his telling, and he tells a good tale, what distinguishes the current administration is its unabashed shift from benign neglect — and quiet reliance on diplomacy — to wrecking ball ... Much of Farrow’s work, however, is homage to the late Richard Holbrooke, for whom Farrow worked as a fresh 20-year-old law school graduate. Farrow is honest about his admiration for Holbrooke, who became, in his own words, a father figure. He is equally honest about the tragedy of Holbrooke, a man who repeatedly defeated himself and his ideas ... The decline of American influence that Ronan Farrow captures in his War on Peace has already begun. When, if we come to our senses and recognize, as French President Emmanuel Macron said, that there is no Planet B, we will re-enter a global community that has largely moved on. Can you blame them?
