May 1, 2017
With this wide-ranging account, Luce (Time to Start Thinking: America in the Age of Descent) enters the fray of books posing the post-2016 question “What just happened?” He begins with a summary of the current global economy’s formation and its connections to prevailing modes of governance. This leads into a history of liberal democracy, which Luce argues is held together most strongly by economic growth. In the absence of such growth, illiberal tendencies take hold. The author then explores the possible consequences of the decline of Western hegemony, including a theoretical war against China which Luce calls “not a prediction” but “a plausible extrapolation of the direction in which Trump is taking U.S. foreign policy.” The final section asks, briefly, what is to be done. Luce’s historical analysis is on point and he seems to understand the current situation as well as one could hope. One difficulty lies, however, is trying to predict the future in an era defined by a figure as mercurial as the 45th president. The main points are still relevant, even if some of the particulars will be dated before the book hits the shelves.
July 1, 2017
Financial Times columnist Luce follows up 2012's Time To Start Thinking: America in the Age of Descent with this book, which provides a glimpse into his postulation that the current political climate is both a symptom and result of years weakening liberal democracies. Luce's latest work excels in explaining the developmental history of Western democratic societies and challenging notions that this governmental model is durable enough to withstand the economic and political turmoil of present times. Luce drives home his argument regarding the volatility of Western democracies with examples and research broken down into four main segments: fusion, reaction, fallout and, half-life. For those who ascribe to Luce's theories on the current political climate, this just may be the right title at the right time as it weaves its call to action alongside projections concerning the results of the global rise of populism and present U.S. administration. VERDICT Presenting easy-to-comprehend political and economic information, this compelling read will appeal to both academics and general readers with an interest in governance.--Mattie Cook, Lake Odessa Comm. Lib., MI
Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
May 1, 2017
Trump, Putin, Kim, Xi: given the current lineup, can the ideals of the Enlightenment endure?Authoritarianism is in the ascendant everywhere in the Western world, with Marine Le Pen gaining momentum in France and, of course, Donald Trump becoming president in the United States. But these, Financial Times Washington commentator Luce (Time to Start Thinking: America in the Age of Descent, 2012, etc.) observes, are symptoms of a greater decline. In a trajectory of liberalism that the author traces to the Magna Carta in 1215 and that reigns nearly supreme in 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the forces of liberty, equality, and fraternity have splintered, while "belief in an authoritarian version of national destiny is staging a powerful comeback." Luce's case is long on description and laced with useful data--e.g., given that an iPhone is made in nine different countries, Trump's nationalist rejection of trade agreements is both anachronistic and stupid, the more so because--and this is a contentious claim on Luce's part--China is likely to outstrip the U.S. economically in the very near term. China is not the only challenge. The greater danger to the American middle class, writes the author, is artificial intelligence, a machine-driven global capitalism without much regard for the "enlightened self-interest that defined much of postwar America" until the last election. Luce's argument, though meritorious, lacks much rhetorical fire; in the hands of a Francis Fukuyama or Jacques Barzun on the right or a Christopher Lasch or Bernard-Henri Levy on the left, it might have been more memorably delivered and with more prescription to leaven the description. Still, there are some nicely pithy moments, including his parting shot: "Liberal elites, in particular, will have to resist the temptation to carry on with their comfortable lives and imagine they are doing their part by signing up to the occasional Facebook protest." Learned and well-considered, but if indeed Western liberal values are in danger of extinction, readers may seek more urgency.
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