Democracy

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Is there the danger that 20, 30 years from now, people look back and simply see a rock as a successful us? I think self respecting storian would be able to say is that what the united states did was well prosecuted. You know, you have to break eggs t to make an omelet, and this was just what it had to look like. And once the lessons of everything, you know, sort of ham handed that had been done, had been applied, we were able again, to stagger ourselves into some kind of solvent political structure.

A former war correspondent and UN ambassador, Samantha Power has had her share of tough assignments. But writing a memoir about it all is also a daunting prospect. The format itself is a challenge: how do you convince the reader you’re worth spending time with? How do you paint a relatable portrait without oversharing and losing your dignity? For Samantha the answer was settling upon a purpose for her memoir and ruthlessly cutting out everything not in service of that.

Tyler and Samantha discuss that purpose and more, including what she learned as an Irish immigrant, the personality traits of good diplomats (and war correspondents), relations with China, why democracy is so rare in the Middle East, the truth about Richard Holbrooke, what factors mitigate against humanitarian intervention, her favorite memoir, how to get NATO members to spend more on defense, and whether baseball games are too long.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.

Recorded July 30th, 2019 Other ways to connect

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