Wow, has it been a long time. I read a lot in 2020, but my heart wasn’t in blogging. I missed it, but it was just one more thing to do during a stressful time. I am not quite ready to give up The BookFetish Blog, though, so I decided it is time to get back to it.

I have read three books in January, so now is as good a time as any to get back on track with blogging.

The first book I finished in 2021 was John Bolton’s The Room Where It Happened.

The Cover Of The Room Where It Happened.

I have mixed feelings about this one. I learned a lot with it. I have mentioned before that I am a bit of a political junkie, and I found the insights into foreign policy fascinating.

Bolton’s style, though. The man is not short on ego and that comes through in so many places, with snarky jabs at the press, people on the left, and anyone he doesn’t feel is as smart as him. It was tiresome after a point.

However, the insights gained outweigh those annoyances. The chaos in the Trump administration was rampant, and we should be grateful for the people who tried to successfully govern- especially from a foreign policy perspective- even if we don’t align with them politically.

Bolton does a good job explaining complex foreign policy issues with both our allies and adversaries. He also illustrates how nuanced foreign policy is. As Bolton recounts incidents in our relations with North and South Korea, China, Russia, Venezuela, Iran, and the European Union, it is clear that while on occasion, Mr. Trump was on target with foreign policy points, too often he was distracted, bored, incurious, and more concerned with buddying up to Kim Jong-Un than actually advancing an advantageous policy. As Bolton points out, Trump figuratively tied the hands of the very people he appointed to advance his agenda. That, coupled with some of the dangerous policy decisions Mr. Trump pursued, are what led Bolton to resign.

If you like politics, and are curious about the inner workings of the White House, this one is worth the read.