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1.0
اكملت المذكرات عن مضض فطبيعة أمريكا و رؤسائها وقيادتها،يتبعون منهج البلالين و التسويق لافكارهم وسياسة عندما تتحدث العاهرة عن الشرق
أكثر من ثلثي الكتاب تتحدث مادلين اولبرايت عن للديموقراطيه وحقوق الإنسان وانهم شعب الله المختار والمصلح الديني والعالمي بما يتوافق مع مصالحهممممممممممم وليست مصلحة الشعوب الأخرى
ولكن الكتاب كشف غزو العراق إنه كان مدبر لة من غزو افغنستان وايضا أستاذ عمرو عمار في كتابية أحجار علي رقعه إلاورسيا وحرب الأفكار ٢٠٤٩
واهم فصول من وجهه نظري
فصل العراق والفصلين إلي قبله وهم في الفصول الأخيرة
فتحدثوا عن صعود بوتين ولماذا يكرهوة وايضا الصين
وايضا آخر صفحات من فضل القاعدة وعن فكرتهم مشروع الشرق الاوسط الكبير إلي قام بية ووضغة برنارد لويس واتي بالربيع العربي
أكثر من ثلثي الكتاب تتحدث مادلين اولبرايت عن للديموقراطيه وحقوق الإنسان وانهم شعب الله المختار والمصلح الديني والعالمي بما يتوافق مع مصالحهممممممممممم وليست مصلحة الشعوب الأخرى
ولكن الكتاب كشف غزو العراق إنه كان مدبر لة من غزو افغنستان وايضا أستاذ عمرو عمار في كتابية أحجار علي رقعه إلاورسيا وحرب الأفكار ٢٠٤٩
واهم فصول من وجهه نظري
فصل العراق والفصلين إلي قبله وهم في الفصول الأخيرة
فتحدثوا عن صعود بوتين ولماذا يكرهوة وايضا الصين
وايضا آخر صفحات من فضل القاعدة وعن فكرتهم مشروع الشرق الاوسط الكبير إلي قام بية ووضغة برنارد لويس واتي بالربيع العربي
greatlibraryofalexandra's review
2.0
I am enough of an Albright fan that it is actually a part of my personality. Admiring/respecting someone a healthy amount means acknowledging their faults and flaws, though, and this book...is a fault.
I'm not sure what I would have thought of this book in 2008. Much like "The Mighty and the Almighty," a lot of this is now so outdated I could barely cringe through it. That said, Albright also makes some seriously prophetic statements - specifically, her assessment of Putin, and her ruminations on what the IRGC might become.
To get to the real crux of why I didn't enjoy this book at all: well, put simply, it's called "Memo to the President" and it is billed as a "memo" of advice to the incoming president. I'm not sure why Albright felt she was qualified to write this. She is a veteran of government service, yes, in two major diplomatic capacities, but she never served in any elected position, she was never in Congress, and she was certainly never president - so this is the only book in which to me, her usual inspiring self-confidence came off as arrogance.
A very useful, enlightening "memo to the president" could have been written by Albright for something such as "Foreign Policy" or "The Foreign Service Journal," but she chose instead to write a 300+ page book that is a collection of problem-solving essays built on mini history lessons.
She's funny (as usual) and smart (as always) and her personal experience is valuable (inarguable), but in many cases she's also offering experiential advice on foreign leaders that she never worked with, given that this book came out two terms after she left office as Sec State.
This book is also focused entirely, and I do mean entirely, on international relations and foreign policy. Diplomatic skill can be applied to the domestic, of course, and naturally Albright is going to advise based on her subject matter expertise, but where does one get off writing a memo to the president that says nothing about their managing of domestic affairs? Throughout this book, Albright seems to forget that the President has a much, much heavier left than merely being the head diplomat - they are leading the whole at home populace! They are not, and should not, be setting out to be a one world order prophet.
The narrative style of the book was also very grating to me. Lots of "you" - yes, I know; written as a memo. But given how long the book is, it devolves into a weird mantra of second person that begins to feel paternalistic (cringe) and at times drops into "listicle" type nuggets of advice. Its unappealing. I'm glad Albright lived long enough to write works a such as "Fascism," where she does grapple with earlier her projections.
Lastly, at some points a better title for this book should have been "How to Fix the Bush Years" - I am not at all opposed to a how-to read on that. I agree with every single one of Albright's assessments of Bush. But given that this was written originally to the president-elect (the Obama-McCain election had not been decided yet), it was disingenuous to assume the incoming president would be planning to countermand Bush, or even disagreed with him at all.
A better topic for Albright might have been something more like "What I learned As a Diplomat: Ideas for Solving Current Conflicts" - because that is essentially what she wrote. The context in which she situated her aphorisms and advise makes it off-putting.
I'll use this analogy: I work at the State Department. I am a Foreign Service SPECIALIST. There are other people who are Foreign Service GENERALISTS. All of us serve the American people, work overseas, work in difficult conditions, and attempt to further diplomacy. While our jobs are similar, there are significant differences; FS Generalists have expertise I don't have, and vice versa. I appreciate working with them and their perspective. But if one of them told me to do my job, I would lose my mind. And reading this book, imagining myself even in friendly Barack Obama's shoes, I was extremely annoyed that Albright could presume to tell a president she knew what he was about to go through.
With this book, I'm now able to say I've read all of Ms. Albright's books, and here is my personal ranking of them:
Fascism: A Warning (2018)
Hell and Other Destinations (2020)
Madam Secretary (2003)
Prague Winter (2012)
The Might and the Almighty (2006)
Memo to the President (2008)
I'd recommend every single one of these books to laypersons, but I'd only recommend 'The Mighty and the Almighty" and "Prague Winter" to Albright fans. I would not recommend "Memo to the President" at all. If you've read the others, a lot of her commentary here is re-hashed elsewhere anyway.
(I still highlighted and tabbed the whole damn book).
I'm not sure what I would have thought of this book in 2008. Much like "The Mighty and the Almighty," a lot of this is now so outdated I could barely cringe through it. That said, Albright also makes some seriously prophetic statements - specifically, her assessment of Putin, and her ruminations on what the IRGC might become.
To get to the real crux of why I didn't enjoy this book at all: well, put simply, it's called "Memo to the President" and it is billed as a "memo" of advice to the incoming president. I'm not sure why Albright felt she was qualified to write this. She is a veteran of government service, yes, in two major diplomatic capacities, but she never served in any elected position, she was never in Congress, and she was certainly never president - so this is the only book in which to me, her usual inspiring self-confidence came off as arrogance.
A very useful, enlightening "memo to the president" could have been written by Albright for something such as "Foreign Policy" or "The Foreign Service Journal," but she chose instead to write a 300+ page book that is a collection of problem-solving essays built on mini history lessons.
She's funny (as usual) and smart (as always) and her personal experience is valuable (inarguable), but in many cases she's also offering experiential advice on foreign leaders that she never worked with, given that this book came out two terms after she left office as Sec State.
This book is also focused entirely, and I do mean entirely, on international relations and foreign policy. Diplomatic skill can be applied to the domestic, of course, and naturally Albright is going to advise based on her subject matter expertise, but where does one get off writing a memo to the president that says nothing about their managing of domestic affairs? Throughout this book, Albright seems to forget that the President has a much, much heavier left than merely being the head diplomat - they are leading the whole at home populace! They are not, and should not, be setting out to be a one world order prophet.
The narrative style of the book was also very grating to me. Lots of "you" - yes, I know; written as a memo. But given how long the book is, it devolves into a weird mantra of second person that begins to feel paternalistic (cringe) and at times drops into "listicle" type nuggets of advice. Its unappealing. I'm glad Albright lived long enough to write works a such as "Fascism," where she does grapple with earlier her projections.
Lastly, at some points a better title for this book should have been "How to Fix the Bush Years" - I am not at all opposed to a how-to read on that. I agree with every single one of Albright's assessments of Bush. But given that this was written originally to the president-elect (the Obama-McCain election had not been decided yet), it was disingenuous to assume the incoming president would be planning to countermand Bush, or even disagreed with him at all.
A better topic for Albright might have been something more like "What I learned As a Diplomat: Ideas for Solving Current Conflicts" - because that is essentially what she wrote. The context in which she situated her aphorisms and advise makes it off-putting.
I'll use this analogy: I work at the State Department. I am a Foreign Service SPECIALIST. There are other people who are Foreign Service GENERALISTS. All of us serve the American people, work overseas, work in difficult conditions, and attempt to further diplomacy. While our jobs are similar, there are significant differences; FS Generalists have expertise I don't have, and vice versa. I appreciate working with them and their perspective. But if one of them told me to do my job, I would lose my mind. And reading this book, imagining myself even in friendly Barack Obama's shoes, I was extremely annoyed that Albright could presume to tell a president she knew what he was about to go through.
With this book, I'm now able to say I've read all of Ms. Albright's books, and here is my personal ranking of them:
Fascism: A Warning (2018)
Hell and Other Destinations (2020)
Madam Secretary (2003)
Prague Winter (2012)
The Might and the Almighty (2006)
Memo to the President (2008)
I'd recommend every single one of these books to laypersons, but I'd only recommend 'The Mighty and the Almighty" and "Prague Winter" to Albright fans. I would not recommend "Memo to the President" at all. If you've read the others, a lot of her commentary here is re-hashed elsewhere anyway.
(I still highlighted and tabbed the whole damn book).
mscoutj's review
4.0
Even though it was written to whomever would win the 2008 election, still relevent today as many of the issues raised have yet to be resolved.
Merged review:
Even though it was written to whomever would win the 2008 election, still relevent today as many of the issues raised have yet to be resolved.
Merged review:
Even though it was written to whomever would win the 2008 election, still relevent today as many of the issues raised have yet to be resolved.
coreyln's review
5.0
Love the format of a detailed memo to convey her observations about the state of affairs at the time. She lays out some compelling suggestions but taking the time to lay out her thoughts using her vast experience kept me glued to the book.
abookishaffair's review
4.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is a good primer on foreign policy issues that currently affect the U.S. Albright covers a lot of territory in under 300 pages.
This is a quick read.
This is a quick read.
pattydsf's review
3.0
It took me a long time to get through this book. Although the subject is of great importance, Albright just couldn't compete with my usual reads which are mostly fiction. She does know her subject and she reminded me of all the things I don't know about the US and our relations with other countries.
Albright is brilliant and for that reason I am very glad I read this book. I now feel like I have a small inkling of the work ahead of Obama and his team. I am not sure that any other writer could have been so concise and informative. I am not running out to get Albright's earlier works, but I will be interested to see what she writes about our international relations in the future.
Albright is brilliant and for that reason I am very glad I read this book. I now feel like I have a small inkling of the work ahead of Obama and his team. I am not sure that any other writer could have been so concise and informative. I am not running out to get Albright's earlier works, but I will be interested to see what she writes about our international relations in the future.
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