THE AGE OF THE UNTHINKABLE

A well-credentialed foreign policy consultant and former TIME magazine editor says the collapse of Old World institutions provides hope that individuals around the world will solve vexing problems like terrorist violence, class warfare, and financial and political volatility. Old World thinking, he says, makes these problems worse because its proponents are blind to the human desire to improve our condition, the world's unpredictability, and the instantaneous ways technology can put individual ideas into action. The author's reading is overly enthusiastic—these topics are intelligent and lively on their own. But the sound and phrasing are clear, the writer optimistic, and the ideas so cogently expressed that most listeners will be captivated by this important foreign affairs audio. T.W. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2009]