As a midwestern American who grew up with the action films of the 80s, consumed many Tom Clancy books, and planned to be a fighter pilot1, I expected the Soviet Union to be the terror of my adult life. When the Berlin Wall fell, I felt national pride that the U.S. had outlasted the Soviets. I was young enough to believe that a new era of peace was to begin. Terrorism rose up as the existential threat, and Russia seemed to fade into the background. Then the build up to the 2016 election and its aftermath showed that the U.S. may not think of Russia as the enemy but Russia still saw us as the enemy. What I didn’t expect was that many of the same people who hated communists and would have been anti-Soviet during the Cold War, now dismissed claims of Russian interference. Sure, part of it was that Russia helped their side win. But the willingness to overlook Russia’s political warfare boggled my mind. How did the Republicans – the party of Reagan, who won the Cold War – deny if not welcome Russian interference? How did the Democrats, which were considered soft on the Soviets when I grew up, become the party willing to stand up to Russia? Seeking to answer these questions, I turned to Pulitzer prize winner Tim Weiner’s new book, The Folly and the Glory. In it, Mr. Weiner examines the role of political warfare from the end of World War 2 to today.
Disclaimer: The publisher provided an advanced review copy of The Folly and the Glory in exchange for an honest review.
TL;DR
The Folly and the Glory by Tim Weiner documents the political warfare between the U.S. and Russia from the start of the Cold War to today. This book documents how the U.S. failed to take Russia’s electronic warfare tactics seriously and has put American democracy at risk. Highly Recommended.
From the Publisher
With vivid storytelling and riveting insider accounts, Weiner traces the roots of political warfare – the conflict America and Russia have waged with espionage, sabotage, diplomacy and disinformation – from 1945 until 2020. America won the cold war, but Russia is winning today. Vladimir Putin helped to put his chosen candidate in the White House with a covert campaign that continues to this moment. Putin’s Russia has revived Soviet-era intelligence operations gaining ever more potent information from—and influence over—the American people and government. Yet the US has put little power into its defense. This has put American democracy in peril.
Weiner takes us behind closed doors, illuminating Russian and American intelligence operations and their consequences. To get to the heart of what is at stake and find potential solutions, he examines long-running 20th century CIA operations, the global political machinations of the Soviet KGB around the world, the erosion of American political warfare after the Cold War, and how 21st century Russia has kept the cold war alive. The Folly and the Glory is an urgent call to our leaders and citizens to understand the nature of political warfare – and to change course before it’s too late.
Review: The Folly and the Glory
The subtitle for this book is “America, Russia, and Political Warfare 1945–2020.” That’s a lot of time and, as operations were world wide, a lot of ground to cover. Mr. Weiner surveys this time period well, choosing to zoom in and out such that the argument he’s building is strengthened without getting too bogged down in details. The first chapter is an excellent overview that defines political warfare and the purpose of the book. From there, he takes us to 1948, crediting George F. Kenan with the architecture of the Cold War, and progresses forward through time. The Folly and the Glory takes the reader through the development and beginnings of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to the CIA-backed coup in Congo to the end of the Cold War and the aftermath. Weiner documents Russia’s forays into electronic warfare as Putin tried to raise Russia’s influence in the world. U.S. hubris has kept it from adapting to the new method of warfare, and our leaders still fail to protect us.
Information warfare is a big topic of the book. Putin’s mentor, Yuri Vladimoirovich Andropov, created some of the most famous disinformation of that era, such as that the military invented AIDS 2. It turns out that the Soviet Union, the KGB, and the Russians in general are much better at information warfare than the U.S. The U.S. may have turned its eyes from Russia, but Russia never failed to keep the U.S. in sight. The final chapter details Russia’s efforts during the 2016 election. The disinformation and confusion would have made Andropov proud. The chapter focuses on the Internet Research Agency and the information gleaned during the Mueller probe. The overwhelming evidence shows that Russia interfered in our elections, an effort that surely continues today.
Tim Weiner Brings the Receipts
The sheer amount of source material from quotes to telegrams to interviews adds weight and immediacy to the text. Often historical surveys feel too distanced, too academic. In The Folly and the Glory Weiner finds a good balance between the long term view and using source material to give us a feel for the time.
The end notes made me happy, which is a weird sentence to write. But seeing the sources gives me a reading list for future investigation3. I found myself browsing the notes, which is something I rarely do. There are a lot of resources to get lost in.
A Deep Book
Per the publisher, The Folly and the Glory clocks in at 336 pages. It felt like much more, in a good way. Each page was densely packed with information and narrative. This isn’t a book to just plow through in a couple hours, at least not for me. I had to take it slow and let my brain process all the good stuff on the page. After reading the chapter about the CIA’s intervention in Congo for the despot Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, I had to put the book down for a day. I couldn’t reconcile how the U.S. supported such a totalitarian regime. The author made it clear that the Congo was central to the U.S.’s African anti-communism strategy. But why did we continue to support him after seeing what horrible things he and his supporters did? This is an eternal question for why the U.S. continued/continues to prop up dictators all over the world. But that’s what a good book does, right? It makes us think; it makes us ask questions.
The Folly and the Glory is a slow read because there’s so much information. This didn’t bother me, but it’s an area where reader preference will affect your enjoyment of the book.
The Folly and the Glory made me think, throughout my reading, about U.S. foreign relations and political warfare. I’m not naive. I know that sometimes one partners with a lesser evil to defeat the larger (see: allying Stalin to defeat Hitler), but what happens when we become so focused on the larger evil that we don’t see the lesser grow? I don’t have an answer to that question. Tim Weiner explains why the U.S. propped up the Congo. But what was the cost? Did the U.S. save the present at the cost of the future?
Political Leanings
In our polarized nation, everything is viewed through politics. Covid is a health crisis, but it is yet another proxy for conservatives versus liberals in the U.S. I anticipate that people will want to know how the book leans. My belief is that conservatives will say it’s a leftist, revisionist history something something Marxist something postmodern, and that lefties will say it’s an apologia for the CIA, a neoliberal attempt to rationalize the horrors of the past as part of a national myth.
In reality, Tim Weiner wrote a book that promotes neither a liberal nor conservative viewpoint. His focus is Russia’s efforts engaging in political warfare, and the use of primary sources helps maintain his political neutrality4. Therefore, I recommend this book to anyone interested in international political warfare, on the moderate side of either political ideology.
Conclusion
Tim Weiner’s The Folly and the Glory is a sobering read. Its lessons are tough but necessary if the U.S. wishes to defend itself. The Folly and the Glory documents the long history of political warfare between the U.S. and Russia. It’s long past time that the U.S. took Russia’s political warfare seriously again, and the The Folly and the Glory is the clarion call needed to start that conversation.
The Folly and the Glory by Tim Weiner is avaiable from Henry Holt & Co on September 22nd, 2020.
8.5 out of 10!
- Unfortunately, medical conditions made this dream impossible to fulfill. Click here to return.
- I remember an event in school where another student actually asked the speaker if the military created AIDS. I didn’t know at the time that Soviet political warfare had succeeded in my small town. At the time, none of us knew that was a Russian conspiracy; still very few of us believed it anyway. Click here to return.
- I need to read John Gattis’s biography of George Kenan. Click here to return.
- Yes, there is not such thing as true political neutrality. Humans are subjective, and thus our writings are subjective. So, I’m sure Weiner’s political leanings inform the book. But he makes an effort to stay focused on U.S. versus Russia, not his political battles. Click here to return.