War on Peace cover art

War on Peace

The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

War on Peace

By: Ronan Farrow
Narrated by: Ronan Farrow
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

A book for anyone interested to know more about how the world really works by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ronan Farrow.

‘This is one of the most important books of our time.’ Walter Isaacson

‘A masterpiece’ Dan Simpson, Post-Gazette

THE NEW YORK TIMES #3 BESTSELLER

US foreign policy is undergoing a dire transformation, forever changing America’s place in the world. Institutions of diplomacy and development are bleeding out after deep budget cuts; the diplomats who make America’s deals and protect democratic interests around the world are walking out in droves. Offices across the State Department sit empty, while abroad the military-industrial complex has assumed the work once undertaken by peacemakers. Increasingly, America is a nation that shoots first and asks questions later.

In an astonishing journey from the corridors of power in Washington, DC, to some of the most remote and dangerous places on earth – Afghanistan, Somalia, and North Korea among them acclaimed investigative journalist Ronan Farrow illuminates one of the most consequential and poorly understood changes in American history. His first-hand experience as a former State Department official affords a personal look at some of the last standard bearers of traditional statecraft, including Richard Holbrooke, who made peace in Bosnia and died while trying to do so in Afghanistan.

Drawing on newly unearthed documents, and richly informed by rare interviews with warlords, whistle-blowers, and policymakers – including every living secretary of state from Henry Kissinger to Hillary Clinton to Rex Tillerson – War on Peace makes a powerful case for an endangered profession. Diplomacy, Farrow argues, has declined after decades of political cowardice, short-sightedness, and outright malice – but it may just offer a way out of a world at war.

©2018 Ronan Farrow (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
Politics & Government War Military American History American Foreign Policy
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Confront and Conceal cover art
Ally cover art
A Rope from the Sky cover art
The Gamble cover art
Worthy Fights cover art
The Finish cover art
American Prometheus cover art
Killing a King cover art
The Netanyahu Years cover art
The Pentagon's Wars cover art
Playing to the Edge cover art
Obama's Wars cover art
Chatter cover art
Known and Unknown cover art
Backstabbing for Beginners cover art
The Kennedy Brothers cover art

Critic reviews

'Farrow draws on both government experience and fresh reporting to offer a lament for the plight of America’s diplomats – and an argument for why it matters. "Classic, old-school diplomacy," he observes, is "frustrating" and involves "a lot of jet lag." Yet his wry voice and storytelling take work that is often grueling and dull and make it seem vividly human' New York Times

‘Ronan Farrow has scooped us all (again). And it is no wonder. A gifted writer with a powerful intellect and a passion for truth, Farrow has become one of this generation’s finest journalists and “War on Peace” a book that will be required reading for generations to come. It is perhaps the most riveting and relatable book on foreign policy and diplomacy I have ever read. I have covered these same corridors of diplomatic power, these same bloody war-zones, yet on every page of “War on Peace” I was astonished by what I learned.’ Martha Raddatz, author of ‘The Long Road Home’

‘US diplomacy has failed to keep up with the times. Part insider account and part sober analysis, ‘War on Peace’ traces the fall of American diplomacy and pulls no punches. Only someone as incisive and unflinching as Farrow could have written this book – and we should all be thankful that he did. A must-read’ Ian Bremmer, Time magazine

‘It's hard to imagine there is a single important diplomat [he] didn't speak to in the course of reporting this remarkable account of American diplomacy in decline … This scoop-laden book is essential reading for those of us who yearn for peace and American moral leadership on a fractious planet’ Lydia Polgreen, HuffPost

What listeners say about War on Peace

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    98
  • 4 Stars
    32
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    84
  • 4 Stars
    27
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    87
  • 4 Stars
    23
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic

Just a fantastic and extremely interesting read from Ronan Farrow. You know when you read any of his books, you're going to be listening on the edge of every word. Loved it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

wow. how brilliant

first rate. a warning to the present about the dangers to the future. lessons from the past.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating and deeply troubling

An excellent glimpse into the world of foreign affairs that pulls few punches and helps its readers grapple with the lasting repercussions we see both from the sidelining of the State Department to favour the Pentagon and the gutting of the State Department's expertise. Very worrying.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Riveting, enlightening and bleak in equal measure

Brilliantly written, descriptive narrative that takes the reader around the world to understand American diplomacy or lack thereof and look to where it is heading under Trump.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Talking history

Ronan Farrow dives deep into the world of Diplomacy. laying out Amarica's move away from a talkative strategy to a harder militaristic one, over the years. Detailed and well-researched, and told in a style which doesn't patronise or leave the listener behind.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Important and eye-opening

Even-handed, laying bare upsetting truths about both Democrat and Republican administrations, but also exposing the Trump White House for the farce that it is, and how its cavalier disregard for diplomacy is putting American lives at risk.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Essential listen/reading

This is essential literature for anyone interested in US as well as works politics.
Excellently written and narrated.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Surprisingly boring

Not very interesting when it should be!
Change the narrator.
Should've been much much
better

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!