The Folly of Realism, Alexander Vindman
The Folly of Realism, Alexander Vindman
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The Folly of Realism
How the West Deceived Itself About Russia and Betrayed Ukraine

Author: Alexander Vindman

Narrator: Jacques Roy, Alexander Vindman

Unabridged: 7 hr 41 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: PublicAffairs

Published: 02/25/2025


Synopsis

A bestselling national security expert delivers a chilling analysis of how Western indecision and apathy made possible the return of brutal Russian expansionism – with catastrophic consequences.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, six US presidential administrations of both parties pursued policies for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia that emboldened Russia, playing into its imperialist, centuries-long mythos of regional hegemony. The result: military aggression and full-scale invasion. It was all too foreseeable.
 
In The Folly of Realism, leading national security expert and bestselling author Alexander Vindman argues that America’s mistakes in Eastern Europe result from policymakers’ fixation on immediate, short-term problem-solving and misplaced hopes and fears. He proposes a new long-term, values-based approach that insists on the fundamentals of liberal democracy and a rules-based world order.
 
Enlivened by firsthand accounts and behind-the-scenes interviews with leading Washington and international policymakers and culminating in the shocking brutality of Putin’s invasions of Ukraine, the book exposes the follies of western foreign policymaking, sources of the dangerous return of Russian imperialism, and proscribes how it can be contained.

 

About Alexander Vindman

Lieutenant Colonel Alexander S. Vindman (Ret. ) was most recently the director for European Affairs on the White House's National Security Council. Prior to retiring from the U.S. Army, he served as a foreign area officer with assignments in U.S. Embassies in Kyiv, Ukraine and Moscow, Russia and for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as a Political-Military Affairs Officer. He is currently a doctoral student and Foreign Policy Institute Fellow at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, a Pritzker Military Fellow at the Lawfare Institute, a board member of the Renew Democracy Initiative nonprofit, and a Visiting Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania's Perry World House.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Marks54 on March 03, 2025

This is Alexander Vindman’s new book on Ukraine’s battle with Russia and with Trump’s increasing alignment with Russia and its turn away from supporting Ukraine. This book was already near publication at the time of the ascent of the Trump administration but the story line fits in well with ongoing......more

Goodreads review by Julia on February 17, 2025

This book feels like Alexander Vindman looked at global politics, sighed deeply, and said, “I told you so.” A sharp, no-nonsense breakdown of how the West completely misread Russia (again), this book pulls no punches. If you ever found yourself screaming at the news like “How did we NOT see this comi......more

Goodreads review by Julia on February 22, 2025

A great overview of how Russia gained and still maintains its power, while Ukraine has struggled to get any recognition since gaining independence in 1991. All events are overlapped with the actions taken by different US administrations and this adds another layer of insight that helps us understand......more


Quotes

"Alex Vindman combines decades of experience in the U.S. military and government with academic insight to explain how successive American administrations misjudged Russia and emboldened the Kremlin to start the largest conventional war in Europe since 1945. A must-read for anyone who wants to understand what went wrong and how it can be fixed"
 —Serhii Plokhy, the author of The Russo-Ukrainian War: The Return of History