Before the end of WWII the Soviets had installed a government to their liking in Poland and weren't going to stop there. The American government felt the need to fight back, using what means of influence they could come up with. And so began the push-pull of the Cold War. Tim Weiner chronicles major episodes of conflict in detail from Congo to Cuba and on to Radio Free Europe, Poland and NATO. It's often an ugly story, the Soviets didn't play by American rules and the Americans hardly lived to up their espoused ideals. Eventually the Americans got their way. And became complacent. And Putin and company struck the American political system at it's home. He continues to do so and it's frightening. Weiner includes copious notes, many with additional information, and a detailed index. This is an important book for anyone interested in how the players make decisions that are often folly.

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.

Review: The Folly and the Glory

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 pilot, 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.

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. 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 investigation. 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 neutrality. 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 available from Henry Holt & Co on September 22nd, 2020.

8.5 out of 10!

Tim Weiner in The Folly and The Glory details sixty-seventy years of political warfare between the United States and Russia from about 1945-2020. The two countries have engaged in espionage, sabotage, diplomacy, and disinformation against each other first as Cold War rivals and now as Russia seeks to reassert itself on the global stage. Tim Weiner takes readers through the muck of political intrigue and details the success and failures of each states political warfare programs.

The one major problem I see and I don’t know if it’s a Weiner problem or just a fact, but the US particularly in the post Cold War portions of the book seems to go MIA. We have Russia engaging in all these cyber espionage actions and classic spy-craft and it feels like the US has no significant counter in The Folly and The Glory. It’s also more of a history of policy rationales rather than sticking straight to political warfare.

A very entertaining narrative of political warfare useful for those wanting to understand current events between the two countries.

A thorough, informative look at the history of political warfare between Russia and the United States. Both sides conducted "dirty tricks" against each other, for decades. It appeared that, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, that the United States had prevailed. However, it appears we let our guard down, and Putin has taken full advantage of our weakened position. Scary stuff, where we are now. I only hope that we can prevail.

I took the history of American foreign policy in college and it touched on a few things in the book but it really digs deep and reveals information about a time when the US was Russia's equal in political warfare. An important book for anyone that wants to understand what really happened during the Cold War. Lots of aha moments for me, especially about Eisenhower and how much the Gary Powers capture derailed his peace process.