Walter Russell Mead

Capsule Review
May/June
2013
Walter Russell Mead

In the age of the Internet and “big data,” McGinnis argues that the bureaucratic, centralized state of the Progressive Era is passé.

Capsule Review
May/June
2013
Walter Russell Mead

From Eberstadt's perspective, entitlements create not only an enormous fiscal challenge but also a culture of dependency that undermines the foundations of the American ethos of enterprise.

Capsule Review
May/June
2013
Walter Russell Mead

Even those who do not share Lust basically conservative outlook on many fertility and family policy issues will find this a stimulating and enlightening read.

Capsule Review
May/June
2013
Walter Russell Mead

Noah's excellent guide to the emerging center-left economic policy consensus is likely to inform Democratic Party thinking and policymaking for some time to come.

Capsule Review
Jan/Feb
2013
Walter Russell Mead

In this uneven but often very lively book, Flynn and Griffin demonstrate why it is important to write about U.S. history in a global context -- and why it is difficult to do so well. Some of Flynn and Griffin’s judgments seem forced, but their central contention is certainly sound: Washington’s embrace of constitutionalism and Napoleon’s turn to military despotism sprang not from any deep difference in their characters but from the political cultures that surrounded them and the differing sets of circumstances they faced.

Capsule Review
Jan/Feb
2013
Walter Russell Mead

Zingales is an entertaining and helpful guide to the story of how the U.S. government’s bailouts of Wall Street firms triggered populist resistance on both the left and the right of the U.S. political spectrum. This is an important and engaging look at some of the most consequential issues facing the United States today.

Capsule Review
Jan/Feb
2013
Walter Russell Mead

Reynolds’ core argument seems correct: social and technological changes are pushing higher education toward dramatic changes, including universities -- and individual professors -- offering classes over the Internet. Smart academics will begin to prepare now for this transformation.

Capsule Review
Jan/Feb
2013
Walter Russell Mead

In this brilliant new look at the destruction of slavery during the American Civil War, Oakes reveals how the U.S. abolitionist movement relied not only on high-minded moral suasion but also on the small-bore legalistic strategy of the Republican Party.

Capsule Review
Jan/Feb
2013
Walter Russell Mead

Frum’s polemics will not win many hearts and minds in the Tea Party, but his goal is less to win over his critics than to sound the alarm to a GOP establishment that, in his view, too readily gave the Tea Party kids the keys to the family car. As the party begins a reappraisal, the clear and coherent arguments in this passionately argued book will help shape the debate.

Capsule Review
Nov/Dec
2012
Walter Russell Mead

Organized philanthropy was one of the most distinctive features of American life in the twentieth century yet is rarely studied as such. That is the ambitious and important task Zunz set for himself in this substantive book.

Capsule Review
Nov/Dec
2012
Walter Russell Mead

Sanger is one of the leading national security reporters in the United States, and this astonishingly revealing insider’s account of the Obama administration’s foreign policy process is a triumph of the genre.

Capsule Review
Nov/Dec
2012
Walter Russell Mead

Wide ranging, deeply researched, and clearly expressed, Preston’s history of the influence of religion on U.S. foreign policy, from Colonial times through the Obama administration, is a landmark in the field of American foreign policy studies.

Capsule Review
Nov/Dec
2012
Walter Russell Mead

Turner’s portrait of this unique American figure is balanced, thoughtful, and readable. It is a book that no student of the American West can afford to ignore.

Review Essay
Nov/Dec
2012
Walter Russell Mead

Two new books -- one condemning the culture of liberal piety embraced by the Nobel Peace Prize, the other detailing the global influence of conservative civil society -- underscore the dangers of using Big Ideas to try to save the world.

Capsule Review
Sept/Oct
2012
Walter Russell Mead

Trende makes a strong argument that American politics is surprisingly fluid and that the widespread belief in the existence of distinct eras -- such as the New Deal era, from 1932 to 1968, or the era of Republican ascendance, from Richard Nixon through George W. Bush -- does not hold up under close examination.

Capsule Review
Sept/Oct
2012
Walter Russell Mead

Public opinion plays an immense role in the development of American foreign policy, but the question of how Americans form their impressions of foreign leaders and regimes has not received the attention it deserves. Nagorski’s brisk and engaging account of American encounters with Nazi Germany is helpful in this regard.

Capsule Review
May/June
2012
Walter Russell Mead

Americans could use a thoughtful and perceptive biography of Mitt Romney; perhaps someday they will get one.

Capsule Review
May/June
2012
Walter Russell Mead

From Kagan’s point of view, the way to preserve a U.S.-led liberal world order is to tend to the foundations of American power at home and to project that power abroad in a thoughtful and confident manner.

Capsule Review
May/June
2012
Walter Russell Mead

In this crisp and stimulating book, Brzezinski speculates on the dangers that could result from the decline of the United States and offers his prescriptions to restore American leadership in a changing world.

Capsule Review
May/June
2012
Walter Russell Mead

In the name of liberal Zionism and universal human values, Beinart’s slender but provocative new book launches a deeply felt attack on the policies of the current Israeli government toward the Palestinians.

Capsule Review
May/June
2012
Walter Russell Mead

The picture Murray paints of a demoralized white working class living in the ruins of once-healthy social institutions is compelling and alarming.

Capsule Review
Mar/Apr
2012
Walter Russell Mead

Parmar’s most valuable insight is that although foundations have often failed in their stated objectives of promoting democracy and reducing poverty in developing countries, they have succeeded in creating networks of scholars and activists who have helped recast global intellectual life in the pragmatic American mold.

Capsule Review
Mar/Apr
2012
Walter Russell Mead

Isaacson’s magnificent, gripping biography of the Apple founder Steve Jobs is more than the life of the business visionary who created the world’s most valuable company and changed the lives of millions of people. It is also a demonstration of the continuing vitality of American culture.

Capsule Review
Mar/Apr
2012
Walter Russell Mead

Aided by Holbrooke’s widow, Kati Marton, Chollet and Power have pulled together a collection of writings that reminds those who knew Holbrooke what they have lost and allows others to learn something about one of the great men of 
our time.

Capsule Review
Mar/Apr
2012
Walter Russell Mead

The shadow of Dean Acheson looms large in Rice’s memoir of eight years of service in the George W. Bush administration, first as national security adviser and then as secretary of state.