The Great Unraveling or The Politics of United States Foreign Policy

The Great Unraveling: Losing Our Way in the New Century

Author: Paul Krugman

In this long-awaited work, award-winning economist and columnist Paul Krugman challenges us to take on George Bush and the radical right. Drawing from his New York Times columns, he chronicles how the boom economy unraveled: how exuberance gave way to pessimism, how the age of corporate heroes gave way to corporate scandals, and how fiscal responsibility collapsed. Krugman asks how it was possible for a country with so much going for it to head downhill so fast and finds the answer in the agenda of the Bush Administration.

Krugman began writing his New York Times column in 2000, demonstrating that he is one of the most well-informed and trenchant commentators in America. From his account of the secret history of the California energy crisis to his devastating dissections of the Bush Administration's dishonesty on everything from tax cuts to the war on terrorism, Krugman tells the uncomfortable truth about how the United States lost its way amid economic disappointment, bad leadership, and deceit. This unprecedented work of social and political history sets the first years of the Twenty-first Century in a stark, new light.

New York Review of Books

....It seems slightly scandalous that Krugman has persisted in noting that the present administration has been moving the lion's share of the money to an array of corporate interests distinguished by the greed of their CEOs, an indifference toward their workers, and boardroom conviction that it is the welfare state that is ruining the country. Krugman has been strident. He has been shrill. He has lowered the dignity of the commentariat. How refreshing.
— Russell Baker

The New York Times

Krugman's best columns showcase his fluency in economics, analytical power and willingness to go out on a limb.—Peter Beinart

Publishers Weekly

"This is not, I'm sorry to say, a happy book," says Krugman in the introduction to this collection of essays culled from his twice-weekly New York Times op-ed column, and indeed, the majority of these short pieces range from moderately bleak political punditry to full-on "the sky is falling" doom and gloom. A respected economist, Krugman dissects political and social events of the past decade by watching the dollars, and his ideas are emphatic if not always well argued. He has a somewhat boyish voice and a pleasingly enthusiastic tone, although his enthusiasm sometimes leads him to take liberties with punctuation. The essays are grouped thematically instead of chronologically, which gives this audio adaptation a scattershot feel. Since these pieces were written over a long stretch of time, certain key ideas recur quite often-political reporters don't pay enough attention to the real news, the Bush administration is dishonest, big corporations are inherently untrustworthy-and can become tedious. To his credit, Krugman is not entirely partisan-he reveals himself to be a free-market apologist-and even listeners who disagree with most of the things he says will likely be taken in by his warm and energetic delivery. Simultaneous release with the Norton hardcover (Forecasts, Aug. 18). (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Foreign Affairs

A Princeton economist turned New York Times columnist, Krugman combines colorful writing with astute economic analysis. This book is a collection of his columns from 2000 to 2003 (plus some earlier articles written for non-economists) with new introductory commentary. Krugman is a self-conscious outsider, an iconoclast who offers trenchant commentary on bad policy and bad business behavior, and much of the material here concerns what he considers the Bush administration's systematic deception of the public. In the introduction, he posits the existence of a revolutionary right-wing conspiracy — a term he does not use lightly. His commentary ranges from developments in Japan and Europe to financial crises and foreign trade policy, areas in which Krugman has made important contributions as an economist. He emerges as a strong, insightful critic of an unqualified "market-knows-best" world view.

Library Journal

Krugman, twice-weekly op-ed columnist for the New York Times and a Princeton economics teacher, shares his take on President Bush and the radical right and how the United States has "lost its way amid economic disappointment, bad leadership, and deceit." The book contains more than 100 of the author's Times columns published between January 2000 and January 2003 and a few extras published in Fortune magazine and at Slate.com, plus his added commentary that freshens the material. The articles cover the gamut of national economic and political issues that dominated the period, including the California energy crisis, the Bush administration's tax cuts, and the war on terrorism. Krugman, who is adamantly anti-right-wing, draws on his solid economics training and experience in these credible pieces, which transcend the rant that sadly fills today's political commentaries. Highly recommended for university and larger public libraries.-Dale Farris, Groves, TX Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

What People Are Saying

Paul A. Samuelson
The new Krugman book documents why this top-drawer academic economist deserves at least one Pulitzer Prize for his accurate Times op-ed columns that are a lone voice, telling things as they are and debunking Washington policies that are neither compassionate nor conservative. Plutocratic democracy is in the saddle. Rx. Krugman twice a week and in this coherent sum-up on relevant 2003-2010 economics. Buy. Read. Ponder. Benefit.

Molly Ivins
You need to read this book, and when you do, you'll have only one response: it's time to get mad, for most of the media are in denial about how far the takeover of this country by the radical right has already progressed.

Anthony Lewis
Paul Krugman is the indispensable American columnist, a voice of truth in a political world of lies and calculated injustice. This book is even better. It makes the case, unrestrained by deference, that a revolutionary right-wing movement is out to transform the United States-and is succeeding, rolling over a supine press and political opposition.

James Carville
If I had a tenth of Paul Krugman's brain and a twentieth his courage, I'd be the happiest person on the face of the Earth!

Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.
Paul Krugman is the great discovery of recent American journalism. Lively, lucid, witty, superbly informed, his commentary on the state of the union is required reading for anyone concerned about the American future.

David Levering Lewis
The title of Paul Krugman's The Great Unraveling might well have been The Great Usurpation. In a republic hijacked by the radical right whose leaders reject the legitimacy of our current political system, Paul Krugman's coruscant book calls for a "great revulsion" across the land before it is too late.

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The Politics of United States Foreign Policy

Author: Jerel A Rosati

The definitive work on how U.S. foreign policy is made, THE POLITICS OF UNITED STATES FOREIGN POLICY utilizes three levels of analysis demonstrating how government, society, and the historical-global environment impact the real world of politics and the policymaking process. Completely revised, updated, and condensed to integrate coverage of the George W. Bush Administration years, September 11th, the war on terror, and the Iraq War, this new edition blends substance, history, and theory in a lively narrative that is comprehensive, accessible, and informative. Chapters focus on significant topics such as the military, the intelligence community, foreign economic policymaking, civil liberties vs. national security, and the impact of electoral politics (such as the controversial 2000 presidential elections) on foreign policy. THE POLITICS OF UNITED STATES FOREIGN POLICY has been used throughout Europe and Asia as well as in such prestigious U.S. programs as the National War College, the Foreign Service Institute, and the U.S. Fulbright American Studies Institute on U.S. Foreign Policy, "It is really the best single source on all aspects of the policy process." -- Robert Soofer, Professor of National Security Strategy, National War College, Washington, D.C. "This is the single best textbook for one-stop shopping on the making of American foreign policy after 9/11, not just for American students, but for students around the world." -- Andrew Bennett, Professor of Government, Georgetown University and former Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Joseph S. Nye, Jr.

Table of Contents:

Pt. I	Introduction	1
1	The Politics of U.S. Foreign Policy	2
Pt. II	The Government and the Policymaking Process	25
2	The Paradox of Presidential Power	26
3	Presidential Management and the NSC Process	72
4	The State Department at Home and Abroad	107
5	The Military Establishment	134
6	The Intelligence Community	183
7	The Foreign Economic and Cultural Bureaucracy	229
8	Executive Branch Policymaking	249
9	Congress and Legislative-Executive Relations	278
10	The Rest of Government	335
Pt. III	The Society and Domestic Politics	357
11	The Public and Its Beliefs	358
12	Political Participation and Electoral Politics	407
13	Group Politics	428
14	National Security and the Exercise of Civil Liberties	471
15	The Media and the Communications Process	489
16	The Domestic Political Process	546
Pt. IV	The Global Environment and Future Politics of U.S. Foreign Policy	567
17	The Global Environment and American Power	568