I just completed former UN Ambassador Samantha Power’s memoir THE EDUCATION OF AN IDEALIST. She is also the author of A Problem from Hell, America and the Age of Genocide which was awarded a Pulitzer Prize. Her latest book is extremely timely in light of the current focus on diplomacy as the result of the Trump impeachment inquiry. It’s insight  during Power’s earlier career as a reporter in Bosnia has direct ties to what is currently happening to the Kurds in Syria.

THE EDUCATION OF AN IDEALIST is a deep dive into foreign policy during the Obama Administration and how diplomacy and the UN functions.  Power writes, It is true that the foundation of US leadership abroad is the strength of our democracy at home. But it is also indisputable that the policies we pursue overseas can have huge effects-good and bad-on our daily lives.

Let me hasten to add that Power is remarkably candid in this memoir. She came to America with her divorced mother as an immigrant from Ireland. She prospered, became an acclaimed reporter starting from the ground up filing stories on spec from the war zone in Bosnia. That background led her to serving in the Obama administration and ultimately being appointed and con firmed to the UN Ambassadorship. In light of current events the book is extremely relevant as evidenced in this Power quote. The insistence of diplomats to go on serving their country, even when being ignored and insulted, because they know that our nation is bigger than any one leader. Prescient!

Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin says it best.  Samantha Power’s captivating memoir is a rare and intimate revelation of the inner workings of international diplomacy as well as a heartwarming beacon of a book for young women and men everywhere.