The Dispensable Nation

American Foreign Policy in Retreat

By: Vali Nasr

Narrated by: Stephen Hoye

In a brilliant and revealing book destined to drive debate about the future of American power, Vali Nasr questions America’s dangerous choice to engage less and matter less in the world.

Vali Nasr, author of the groundbreaking The Shia Revival, worked closely with Hillary Clinton at the State Department on Afghan and Pakistani affairs. In The Dispensable Nation, he takes us behind the scenes to show how Secretary Clinton and her ally, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, were thwarted in their efforts to guide an ambitious policy in South Asia and the Middle East. Instead, four years of presidential leadership and billions of dollars of U.S. spending failed to advance democracy and development, producing mainly rage at the United States for its perceived indifference to the fate of the region.

After taking office in 2009, the Obama administration had an opportunity to fundamentally reshape American foreign policy, Nasr argues, but its fear of political backlash and the specter of terrorism drove it to pursue the same questionable strategies as its predecessor. Meanwhile, the true economic threats to U.S. power, China and Russia, were quietly expanding their influence in places where America has long held sway.

Nasr makes a compelling case that behind specific flawed decisions lurked a desire by the White House to pivot away from the complex problems of the Muslim world. Drawing on his unrivaled expertise in Middle East affairs and firsthand experience in diplomacy, Nasr demonstrates why turning our backs is dangerous and, what’s more, sells short American power. The United States has secured stability, promoted prosperity, and built democracy in region after region since the end of the Second World War, he reminds us, and The Dispensable Nation offers a striking vision of what it can achieve when it reclaims its bold leadership in the world.

sensible

reading it in 2021, it's just as valid as, 2017 as the fundamental issues and even after three presidents, it still an open issue

Thorough analysis of the US role in Middle East

Valuable to any scholar seeking to understand the U.S. necessity to be present in the Middle East.

Mostly general assertions & little evidence

If you could sum up The Dispensable Nation in three words, what would they be?

I'm confident, given his experience, that the author has valuable insight, but from the Prologue to Chapters 1 and 2, there was so much condemnation with such little supporting evidence that I could not continue listening. For example, in Chapter 2 (Ch 3 in audio download) he states Karzai's brother had "ties to the drug trade...giving them the means to line their pockets while abusing the local population." But he never describes what those ties were, what methods they were using to line their pockets, or how they were abusing the local population. Had he taken more time to provide concrete information less emotional retoric, this could have been a good book, but I cannot recommend it.

What do you think your next listen will be?

A more objective review of the history of the Middle East.