John T. Shaw – författare

Two-time chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Richard G. Lugar has been one of the most widely respected foreign policy experts in Congress for over three decades. In this illuminating profile, John T. Shaw examines Lugar's approach to lawmaking and diplomacy for what it reveals about the workings of the Senate and changes in that institution. Drawing on interviews with Lugar and other leading figures in foreign policy, Shaw chronicles Lugar's historic work on nuclear proliferation, arms control, energy, and global food issues, highlighting the senator's ability to influence American foreign policy in consequential ways. The book presents Lugar's career as an example of the role Congress can play in the shaping of foreign policy in an era of a strong executive branch. It demonstrates the importance of statesmanship in contemporary American political life while acknowledging the limitations of this approach to governance.

This is a dangerous time—the international system is teetering, jolted by a raging pandemic, climate change, income inequality, cyber threats, terrorism, authoritarian regimes, nationalist demagogues, and frightened and impatient publics. But the career and hard-earned wisdom of famed diplomat, Jan Eliasson, offers warnings, guidance, and hope. The Education of a Statesman examines Eliasson’s remarkable diplomatic career—including Swedish diplomat, president of the United Nations General Assembly, and Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations—and scrutinizes the innumerable lessons he has learned which are applicable to our current period of “maximum danger” in global affairs. Combining elements of idealism and realism, Eliasson helps us understand the substance, theater, and spirit of diplomacy--statecraft, stagecraft, and soulcraft on the world stage. His story provides insights on the complexities of this perilous time and suggests what can be done to renew the international order and calm the raging discontent that has infected international and domestic politics.Historian John Shaw analyzes this master diplomat and provides an insider’s perspective on diplomacy and international politics: what happens during backroom meetings, high-profile international conferences, and charged debates at the United Nations. This book shows what must be done to confront this pivotal moment so “the bad guys stop winning” and the forces of rationality, fairness, and pluralism prevail—or at least have a fighting chance.

After winning the presidency by a razor-thin victory on November 8, 1960, over Richard Nixon, Dwight D. Eisenhower’s former vice president, John F. Kennedy became the thirty-fifth president of the United States. But beneath the stately veneers of both Ike and JFK, there was a complex and consequential rivalry. In Rising Star, Setting Sun, John T. Shaw focuses on the intense ten-week transition between JFK’s electoral victory and his inauguration on January 20, 1961. In just over two months, America would transition into a new age, and nowhere was it more marked that in the generational and personal difference between these two men and their dueling visions for the country they led. The former general espoused frugality, prudence, and stewardship. The young political wu¨nderkid embodied dramatic themes and sweeping social change. Extensively researched and eloquently written, Shaw paints a vivid picture of what Time called a “turning point in the twentieth century” as Americans today find themselves poised on the cusp of another watershed moment in our nation’s history.