Most of the book was reminding the reader of the disaster of the Trump administration and the possible mess of another Trump White House or Trump like administration. A good, educational yet faintly alarming read.

In this book, the author is making the argument that Canada needs to be planning now for a time when the US is no longer a reliable partner. Given the way the Republican Party in the US is going--moving increasingly to the extreme right--he makes the case that should Trump or a Trumpian Republican become president again, Canada will be left alone to deal with the issues having a hostile neighbour will cause. Other countries will deal with this hostility as well, but Europe has some strength in numbers and doesn't share a border with the US. Asian countries could also band together, but Canada is in between geographically and should be planning now for such an eventuality. Much of the book is spent pointing out the reasons people should be wary of the situation in the 'United' States. It is currently unclear which way things will go in the near future, of course, but things could get quite dire indeed. As he states, " ...the Republican Party remains at its core an anti-democratic, illiberal, and authoritarian political party and that will have a significant impact on American foreign policy in the years ahead." (p 11-12) Furthermore, he says that combined with the rise of Russia and China, a Republican administration could lead to a 'post-American' world order.

As someone who has studied US culture both formally and informally for half a century, I can say that I think his analysis of the situation is spot-on--not only when it comes to the political situation, but also the voter problems that exist there, which include apathy, voter suppression on the part of Republicans, misinformation, an inability/unwillingness to prioritize, and a lack of understanding of the complex problems that exist both at home and abroad.

I am not Canadian, but I think that I might find the brevity of the chapter devoted to solutions somewhat concerning. The book does a fine job of diagnosing a problem and explaining why it exists. Addressing the solution to those problems from a Canadian perspective was not as in-depth--possibly because there are not many solutions to be had, especially now when things are so uncertain. That said, I agree that it is vitally important for governments around the world to be prepared (as much as this is possible) for the world the author describes. It's in their best interests to do so.