War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence - Softcover

Ronan Farrow is an investigative journalist who writes for The New Yorker and makes documentaries for HBO. He has been an anchor and reporter at MSNBC and NBC News, and his writing has appeared in publications including The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. He is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the George Polk Award, and the National Magazine Award, among other commendations, and has been named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People. He is also an attorney and former State Department official. He lives in New York City.

“Farrow draws on both government experience and fresh reporting to offer a lament for the plight of America’s diplomats―and an argument for why it matters. ‘Classic, old-school diplomacy,’ he observes, is ‘frustrating’ and involves ‘a lot of jet lag.’ Yet his wry voice and storytelling take work that is often grueling and dull and make it seem...vividly human.”
- Daniel Kurtz-Phelan, The New York Times

“Dogged research and persuasive argument....Farrow brings to his book astonishing access....[he is] an indefatigable and imaginative reporter.”
- David Shribman, The Globe and Mail

“A masterpiece....The writing sparkles.”
- Dan Simpson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“A compelling mixture of political analysis and personal anecdote.”
- Andrew Anthony, The Guardian

“With astonishing reporting and gripping prose, Ronan Farrow tells the powerful story of the gutting of American diplomacy...War on Peace is an indispensable and fascinating revelation of what diplomats actually do for our country and why undermining them is so dangerous. Farrow is a riveting storyteller with a great eye for colorful characters. This is one of the most important books of our time.”
- Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs and professor of history, Tulane

“Ronan Farrow has scooped us all (again). And it is no wonder. A gifted writer with a powerful intellect and a passion for truth, Farrow has become one of this generation’s finest journalists and War on Peace a book that will be required reading for generations to come. It is perhaps the most riveting and relatable book on foreign policy and diplomacy I have ever read. I have covered these same corridors of diplomatic power, these same bloody war zones, yet on every page of War on Peace I was astonished by what I learned.”
- Martha Raddatz, ABC News chief global affairs correspondent and author of The Long Road Home

“US diplomacy has failed to keep up with the times. Part insider account and part sober analysis, War on Peace traces the fall of American diplomacy and pulls no punches. Only someone as incisive and unflinching as Farrow could have written this book―and we should all be thankful that he did. A must-read.”
- Ian Bremmer, editor-at-large, Time magazine, and president, Eurasia group

“It's hard to imagine there is a single important diplomat Ronan Farrow didn't speak to in the course of reporting this remarkable account of American diplomacy in decline. This is no surprise: who better than a diplomat-turned-investigative-reporter to bring this deeply reported, acutely observed, and morally righteous chronicle of a nation that has all but abandoned diplomacy in favor of high-tech, high-ticket military action at just the perilous moment when steely and patient diplomacy is needed more than ever. This scoop-laden book is essential reading for those of us who yearn for peace and American moral leadership on a fractious planet.”
- Lydia Polgreen, former editorial director, New York Times Global, and editor-in-chief, HuffPost

“Blends analysis with vivid reportage....[Farrow's] indictment of the militarization of American foreign policy is persuasive.”
- Publishers Weekly