Barrie Dunsmore
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ISBN: 978-1-935922-06-3
$26.95 hard cover
300 pages, 6.25 x 9.5
Non-fiction, Current Events
Wind Ridge Publishing, Inc.
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There and Back
Commentary by a former Foreign Correspondent
With a foreword by Ted Koppel
By Barrie Dunsmore
In an era of instant access to worldwide news, we are lucky to have voices who can speak from the vantage point of many years of on-the-ground experience. Barrie Dunsmore, who traveled the world for over thirty years as a foreign correspondent with ABC News, has one of those voices. He is able to analyze current events with a veteran reporter's eye, a humble sense of humor, and a longer view of history than most contemporary opinion-based news sources. He is a careful keeper of our collective world history, and as such offers an important and increasingly rare perspective on current events.
The collection of pieces in There and Back offers quick and sometimes witty entrances into decade-long discussions about Middle East policy, superpower strategies, and controversial domestic issues. Dunsmore comments on various aspects of recent Middle Eastern history: the Arab Spring revolutions, America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the nuclear threats posed by Iran's theocratic government. He takes us inside the arms races of the Cold War, relying heavily on his coverage of the diplomatic relations between the U.S. and the Soviets during that time. He also takes us through a tour de force of commentary on politics, current events, cultural phenomena, and leadership within the U.S. Dunsmore's grounded and non-sensational approach to writing allows him to thoughtfully explain the world issues inherited by this generation.
It is because of his experience abroad that Dunsmore is able to observe domestic events with such accurate focus. He uses his deep knowledge of historical events, many of which he lived through and reported on, to simplify the decades of policy and diplomacy that have led us to today. After reading Dunsmore's careful encapsulations of complicated international relationships, today's global situations suddenly become clearer.
This collection of columns are the offerings of a mind sharply tuned to the long view of truth and to a lifetime of practicing thoughtful reflection. |
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Endorsements & Reviews
"For forty-odd years, Barrie Dunsmore has been at the forefront of war, a good deal of it in the Middle East, and in the heat of the American political kitchen. He has covered the news with the insight and perspective that comes from exceptional understanding of the issues and leaders. Equally important is his writer's eye for clarity, as well as for the uses of nuance and ambiguity. This compilation of essays dating from the weeks when he accompanied me on the Mideast shuttles in the early 1970s to his commentaries on the Arab Spring will mark Dunsmore firmly as one of the significant journalists of our era."
-Henry A. Kissinger, former Secretary of State and bestselling author of On China
"When Barrie Dunsmore writes, his readers learn. Not only is his commentary insightful and timely, it is based on years of observation and study of the issues he discusses. His is a voice and analysis all of us need, and yet hear from so few commentators today. Barrie Dunsmore's writings make us all the more knowledgeable."
-U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy
"I've mentioned already that Barrie is my friend. (We were BFF's before it was fashionable). But I rejoice in the publication of this book because it is full of so many attributes missing in much of today's quasi-journalism. Here you will find context, insight, thoughtful reflection and a bracing anger, based not on ideology but on impatience with fools and their mindless nattering."
- Ted Koppel, Former host of ABC Nightline
"Very few people have the breadth of experience in and practical wisdom about American politics and international relations that Barrie Dunsmore has. He not only has seen it all, he has thought carefully about it all. These essays are pithy and readable distillations of a lifetime of observation and learning. His contributions have enriched our understanding here in Vermont, and deserve a broad readership all across the country."
- Gregory Gause, Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science, University of Vermont
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About the Author
Barrie Dunsmore covered foreign affairs for ABCNews for thirty years reporting from Washington and abroad on the policies of seven U.S. Presidents from Johnson to Clinton. He traveled with them all overseas and was a regular on the planes of their Secretaries of State. From 1965-95 he reported from more than one hundred countries on virtually every major international event from wars to summits to diplomatic shuttles.
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