How I Got Here: Lives in Public Service

Book
Foreign policy analyses written by CFR fellows and published by the trade presses, academic presses, or the Council on Foreign Relations Press.

“Dark times,” Hannah Arendt once noted, “are not only not new, they are no rarity in history.” She maintained her conviction, however, “that even in the darkest of times we have the right to expect some illumination, and that such illumination may well come less from theories and concepts than from the uncertain, flickering, and often weak light that some men and women, in their lives and their works, will kindle.” It is in that spirit the present volume is offered.

All of the subjects interviewed here have led outstanding lives of public service, in fields ranging from diplomacy and national security, to law and aid, to journalism and the academy. They have excelled as professionals and people and speak frankly of how their lives and careers unfolded, what they got right and wrong, and what advice they have for those coming after. Glittering with priceless historical nuggets, studded with hard-earned wisdom, the stories are fascinating alone and panoramic in conjunction.

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United States

Gideon Rose, Editor

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United States

Top Stories on CFR

Palestinian Territories

The leading UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees faces severe funding cuts and suspended services, with huge consequences for millions of Palestinians. It remains enmeshed in controversy over accusations that some of its employees were involved in Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel.

Taiwan

TSMC’s $100 billion will significantly boost America’s semiconductor manufacturing industry but how it will shape US-Taiwan relations is an open question.

Drug Policy

President Trump has imposed steep tariffs on Canada, China, and Mexico in the name of curbing fentanyl flows into the United States. In reality, supplies of the drug—and related deaths—have sharply declined in the past year, though they are still at worrying levels.