The Econmist - USA (2021-10-09)

The Economist October 9th 2021 Books & arts 81

crisis to expand its influence. Mr Kahl and
Mr  Wright  suggest  that  President  Donald
Trump, in turn, formulated American pol­
icy as a reaction to China.
Even  supposedly  neutral  institutions
became  geopolitical  battlegrounds.  Am­
ong  the  most  interesting  of  Mr  Kahl’s  and
Mr  Wright’s  insights  is  the  way  the  World
Health  Organisation  (who)  fell  victim  to
political  pressure.  Its  boss,  Tedros  Adha­
nom Ghebreyesus, at first took a concilia­
tory approach to China, resisting American
urgings for him to be more confrontation­
al.  Dr  Tedros  lost  patience  only  when  the
Chinese  authorities  made  a  mockery  of  a
who investigation in Wuhan, denying sci­
entists access to data and pushing them to
discount the idea that the virus originated
in a laboratory.

Devil take the hindmost
The two books differ in their interpretation
of  this  renewed  competition.  Mr  Maçães
thinks geopolitical conflict is the new nor­
mal. Responses tothevirusbytheworld’s
governments  havebecomeayardstickof
their  performance;theirhandlingoffu­
ture crises will be judgedandcomparedac­
cording  to  the  sametemplate.Statesnow
compete  with  oneanotherindirectly,he
says,  using  technologytomasterthreats
that, like diseases,emergefromtheenvir­
onment rather thanfromtheirrivals.
For  their  part,  MrKahlandMrWright
detect a vicious circleinwhich“great­pow­
er  rivalry  made  thepandemicbothmore
likely  and  harder  tocontain”.Henceforth,
they  think,  Americamustbepreparedto
confront  transnational threats without
expecting  to  collaboratewithChinaand
Russia.  Both  booksnote, asothershave,
that  technology  willincreasinglybea key
measure of power.MrKahlandMrWright
dwell on the dark temptationsofnewtech­
nologies for authoritarianleaders.
Looming over theseanalysesisthecli­
mate  calamity.  Bothbooksseetheexperi­
ence of the pandemicasa gloomyomenfor
co­operation  againstclimatechange.Mr
Maçães speculatesthatinthefuturecom­
petition may focusonaccesstoresources,
such as cobalt, whichareessentialtogreen
technologies.  Countriesthatexcelinde­
carbonisation  will share their know­
ledge—but for a price.
Mr Kahl and MrWrighthavelittlefaith
that America and Chinawillfinda wayto
reform  the  global public­health system,
much  less  unite  tofightclimatechange.
Instead,  they  hopeAmericacanleadthe
world’s democraciestoaddresssuchchal­
lenges  and  fend off a more assertive
Chinese foreign policy.Whethertheeffects
of a warming planetcan—orwill—beabat­
ed  by  either  virtuouscompetitionoran
alliance  of  democraciesisdubious.Nei­
ther of these perceptivebooksoffersmuch
reason for optimism.n

Socialmobilityandpopulism

The Russia option

W

howasthewomanwiththestrange

British  accent  testifying  to  Congress

during  the  hearings  for  President  Donald

Trump’s  first  impeachment,  suddenly  in

the spotlight and trending on Twitter? For

the  many  who  wondered,  Fiona  Hill  now

explains:  she  is  a  miner’s  daughter  from

Bishop Auckland, a long­neglected town in

the north­east of England, who, against the

odds,  went  to  university,  won  a  scholar­

ship  to  Harvard  and  became  a  leading

expert on Vladimir Putin’s Russia. For two

years she was the top adviser on European

and Russian affairs in Mr Trump’s National

Security  Council—hence  her  starring  role

in  the  probe  into  his  efforts  to  smear  Joe

Biden  via  Ukraine.  A  few  in  Mr  Trump’s

White House cruelly dubbed her “the Rus­

sia bitch”. 

Readers in search of fresh insider revel­

ations about the Trump presidency may be

disappointed  by  her  new  memoir.  To  be

sure,  she  is  damning  about  her  former

boss.  He  is  a  misogynist,  a  shallow  show­

man and supremely selfish. “I don’t believe

Trump was intentionally doing something

for  Putin  or  for  anyone  else,”  Ms  Hill

writes.  “Trump  was  only  ever  concerned

with  himself.”  He  is  incurious  about

details,  with  the  significant  exception  of

matters  relating  to  nuclear­arms  control.

His  vanity  and  fragile  self­esteem  make

him “exquisitely vulnerable” and a liability

to  the  country.  He  abused  his  position  to

attempt a “self­coup” after his defeat to Mr

Biden  in  last  year’s  election.  But  most  of

this is well­known, at least among the for­

mer president’s critics.

The  freshness  of  Ms  Hill’s  story  lies

instead  in  the  description  of  her  back­

ground,  and  the  unique  insights  she  be­

lieves  this  gives  her  into  global  affairs—a

very  different  perspective  from  most

national­security  experts  in  Washington.

With the closure of mines and other local

industries, Bishop Auckland became a for­

gotten place devoid of opportunity. People

had jobs, not careers. Her family’s poverty

prevented  her  from  taking  up  a  place  at  a

private girls’ school, even though it offered

to waive the fees; Ms Hill’s father balked at

the  cost  of  the  uniform,  transport  and

school trips. An interview for the Universi­

ty of Oxford was a disaster, as she felt hope­

lessly  out  of  place.  A  familiar  trifecta  of

English  questions  (where  are  you  from,

what  does  your  father  do,  what  school  do

you go to?) kept swatting her down.

She went instead to the University of St

Andrews  in  Scotland,  where  she  studied

Russian.  Eventually,  America  offered  an

escape from British pigeonholing of accent

and class. Other obstacles stood in her way,

notably  because  she  is  a  woman.  When

A miner’s daughter from north-east England has a unique perspective on the

dangers to American democracy

There is Nothing for You Here.By Fiona

Hill.Mariner Books; 432 pages; $30