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The Fate of the West: The Battle to Save the World's Most Successful Political Idea
The West seems to be in retreat--even from itself--and cracks have appeared in the structures of international collaboration built after 1945. We live in a time of disintegration and rekindling of old nationalisms.
Yet the end of the West has been predicted by academics, philosophers and rival statesmen for more than a hundred years. The West has proved itself to be tough--adaptable, flexible and able to evolve to meet the challenges of changing times. In this bold new book, Bill Emmott argues that in the face of new threats, we must resist attempts to close borders and minds, and work to remove obstacles that are blocking this evolutionary change.
The fight is not lost. The Fate of the West reveals that our record of overcoming our doubters and demons should give the world confidence that the idea of the West will again prevail. But to do so, we will have to return to our lodestars of openness and equality, keeping firmly in mind that without openness, the West cannot thrive; but without equality, the West cannot last.
Yet the end of the West has been predicted by academics, philosophers and rival statesmen for more than a hundred years. The West has proved itself to be tough--adaptable, flexible and able to evolve to meet the challenges of changing times. In this bold new book, Bill Emmott argues that in the face of new threats, we must resist attempts to close borders and minds, and work to remove obstacles that are blocking this evolutionary change.
The fight is not lost. The Fate of the West reveals that our record of overcoming our doubters and demons should give the world confidence that the idea of the West will again prevail. But to do so, we will have to return to our lodestars of openness and equality, keeping firmly in mind that without openness, the West cannot thrive; but without equality, the West cannot last.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published April 27, 2017
33 people are currently reading
446 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 10, 2017
Not terribly long ago, my Friday was on hold until I’d finished reading the Economist, pretty much cover-to-cover, from the brief review of the past week, all the way to the obituary. I have the back issues to prove it, from 1992 to 2003, when the most unfortunate decision was made by its editorial board to back the Iraq invasion.
The editor for most of that time was none other than the author of what is my favorite book of 2017 so far, and comfortably the best book I’ve read from the ones that try to explain the recent resurgence of populism / nationalism / nativism / whatever you choose to call it.
In short, Bill Emmott’s “Fate of the West” is a masterpiece.
Let’s get some gripes out of the way: much like the Economist, you need all your faculties to read it; you get nothing from skimming it. It could be shorter. And by mentioning Donald Trump so frequently, the author is un-necessarily dating a book that has all the makings of a future classic.
Here’s where it hits the bullseye: Emmott defines “Western” values (as openness and democracy,) he explains why they took hold (because they promote prosperity and fairness at the same time,) he’s is brave enough to admit that their main vulnerability (openness) happens to coincide with a defining strength, he recognizes that they are (not for the first time) on the defensive because they have of late been failing to deliver on both their traditional benefits (prosperity and equality/fairness,) he looks for and identifies several answers as to why that is the case (starting from Mansur Olson’s repertoire, but not only: longevity is not a bane and cannot be helped, for example, but we need to learn how to deal with it) and he recommends eight (count’em) remedies that can help address today’s malaise.
That he started his career as a Japan jockey, experiencing first-hand the original instance of decline in a country that had espoused the “Western” system (or had it externally imposed on it, at any rate,) that he subsequently became an expert on (pretty much stagnant) Italy, that he hails from Great Britain and that he came of age as a journalist when Sweden was dealing with the collapse of its banking system (much better than we ever did) allows him to supplement his incisive analysis of the main arena of this debate, the US, with tremendous chapters on Brexit, Italy, Japan and “the Houdinis” of Sweden and Switzerland.
Leaving all that aside, the book is a total pleasure to read. I consider myself an expert on a lot of the material covered here, and I just kept learning and learning. (It had never occurred to me, for instance that what we consider to be the “German” way of running industry, whereby the union and the local government all sit on the board of corporations, alongside representatives of the local state bank, was put in place by the victorious Americans, to make sure the central state has many obstacles to clear if it ever attempts to take industry over the way its dictator had done in the thirties) I don’t 100% agree everything the author has to say, (for example, I find that Germany could go on a total spending spree and would still fail to move the needle on European growth, all while ramping up its debt) but it was a total privilege to read this book.
The analysis is at the same time careful and decisive: you’re left in no doubt that the new enemies we face today are the new monopolists who wield market power and use it to avoid tax and to drive the political process, the politically exclusive (in the words of Acemoglu) regimes such as Russia and China that refuse to play by the rules (“Barbarians at the Gate,” the author calls them in a chapter he dedicates to them and… ISIS) the generation of permanent-contract job holders who have in countries such as Italy, Japan and Greece formed a political bloc which denies their offspring access to the labor market, but also those who want to de-fund the state, thereby increasing the gap in education (and the willingness to take risk, due to a precarious existence) between the rich and the poor.
I say the book is wordy, but it covers a lot of ground and it never shouts from the rooftops. This is sober analysis.
Just so I have them written somewhere (and look away now if this will spoil the book for you) here are the eight recommendations Bill Emmott makes for those of us who want to restore “Western” society to its former glory:
1. Openness is all, but not everything has to be open, all the time
2. Equality is all, but it isn’t all about money
3. Education, at all levels and ages, is the single most vital support for equality as well as being a country’s most vital economic and social resource
4. Equality between the young and old is as important as between social classes or ethnic groups
5. The rule of law is a non-negotiable guarantor of equality and source of confidence among citizens and between nations
6. Freedom of speech is a vital bridge between openness and equality, not a trade-off between them
7. A boring consistency is a fine goal for economic growth
8. Fostering the international rule of law and international collaboration is essential
And there you have it! If anything, the book is even better than the recommendations. It’s a solid bet for “best book of 2017”
The editor for most of that time was none other than the author of what is my favorite book of 2017 so far, and comfortably the best book I’ve read from the ones that try to explain the recent resurgence of populism / nationalism / nativism / whatever you choose to call it.
In short, Bill Emmott’s “Fate of the West” is a masterpiece.
Let’s get some gripes out of the way: much like the Economist, you need all your faculties to read it; you get nothing from skimming it. It could be shorter. And by mentioning Donald Trump so frequently, the author is un-necessarily dating a book that has all the makings of a future classic.
Here’s where it hits the bullseye: Emmott defines “Western” values (as openness and democracy,) he explains why they took hold (because they promote prosperity and fairness at the same time,) he’s is brave enough to admit that their main vulnerability (openness) happens to coincide with a defining strength, he recognizes that they are (not for the first time) on the defensive because they have of late been failing to deliver on both their traditional benefits (prosperity and equality/fairness,) he looks for and identifies several answers as to why that is the case (starting from Mansur Olson’s repertoire, but not only: longevity is not a bane and cannot be helped, for example, but we need to learn how to deal with it) and he recommends eight (count’em) remedies that can help address today’s malaise.
That he started his career as a Japan jockey, experiencing first-hand the original instance of decline in a country that had espoused the “Western” system (or had it externally imposed on it, at any rate,) that he subsequently became an expert on (pretty much stagnant) Italy, that he hails from Great Britain and that he came of age as a journalist when Sweden was dealing with the collapse of its banking system (much better than we ever did) allows him to supplement his incisive analysis of the main arena of this debate, the US, with tremendous chapters on Brexit, Italy, Japan and “the Houdinis” of Sweden and Switzerland.
Leaving all that aside, the book is a total pleasure to read. I consider myself an expert on a lot of the material covered here, and I just kept learning and learning. (It had never occurred to me, for instance that what we consider to be the “German” way of running industry, whereby the union and the local government all sit on the board of corporations, alongside representatives of the local state bank, was put in place by the victorious Americans, to make sure the central state has many obstacles to clear if it ever attempts to take industry over the way its dictator had done in the thirties) I don’t 100% agree everything the author has to say, (for example, I find that Germany could go on a total spending spree and would still fail to move the needle on European growth, all while ramping up its debt) but it was a total privilege to read this book.
The analysis is at the same time careful and decisive: you’re left in no doubt that the new enemies we face today are the new monopolists who wield market power and use it to avoid tax and to drive the political process, the politically exclusive (in the words of Acemoglu) regimes such as Russia and China that refuse to play by the rules (“Barbarians at the Gate,” the author calls them in a chapter he dedicates to them and… ISIS) the generation of permanent-contract job holders who have in countries such as Italy, Japan and Greece formed a political bloc which denies their offspring access to the labor market, but also those who want to de-fund the state, thereby increasing the gap in education (and the willingness to take risk, due to a precarious existence) between the rich and the poor.
I say the book is wordy, but it covers a lot of ground and it never shouts from the rooftops. This is sober analysis.
Just so I have them written somewhere (and look away now if this will spoil the book for you) here are the eight recommendations Bill Emmott makes for those of us who want to restore “Western” society to its former glory:
1. Openness is all, but not everything has to be open, all the time
2. Equality is all, but it isn’t all about money
3. Education, at all levels and ages, is the single most vital support for equality as well as being a country’s most vital economic and social resource
4. Equality between the young and old is as important as between social classes or ethnic groups
5. The rule of law is a non-negotiable guarantor of equality and source of confidence among citizens and between nations
6. Freedom of speech is a vital bridge between openness and equality, not a trade-off between them
7. A boring consistency is a fine goal for economic growth
8. Fostering the international rule of law and international collaboration is essential
And there you have it! If anything, the book is even better than the recommendations. It’s a solid bet for “best book of 2017”
October 15, 2025
Grāmata ir rakstīta Trampa 1.prezidentūras laikā un tā paredz visādus izaicinājumus Rietumu pasaulei, kas tikai eskalējas jau otrās prezidentūras laikā. Interesanti, cik precīzs ir autora novērtējums. Īpaši patika nodaļas par demogrāfijas, imigrācijas un novecošanās izaicinājumiem. Viena zvaigznīte nost par, manuprāt, pasauso valodu!
June 4, 2021
This book’s full title is The Fate of the West: The Battle to Save the World’s Most Successful Political Idea. Bill Emmott has his own site here. Click the 2050 index for an interesting overview.
He talks a lot of the problems of the west. People have lost faith in government. Europe is a mess. They have economic problems but also immigration problems and terrorism. It would seem to have a lot to do with new immigrants that UK voted to separate from the EU. He says that no rich country has revived or re-energized from economic or political torpor by a revision to authoritarian rule. Those that have achieved revival had done so through some new combination of openness and a restoration of equality.
He still has hope for the future of the west. I must admit I have hope but we are going through some tough times. You can see we have a problem with trust and there is a lot of polarization. Even in Canada we have people who intensely hate people of other political parties. It is not good that people have a hard time accepting an election when their political party is not the winner. I am hoping we will muddle through our problems somehow.
There is an interesting review on Kirkus Reviews. There is a review on Publishers Weekly. G. John Ikenberry reviews this book on Foreign Affairs. He also reviews The Retreat of Western Liberalism by Edward Luce. In closing he says “But, like Luce, Emmott doesn’t shed much light on the specifics of what would amount to a wholesale rethinking of the Western social contract”.
John Andrews interviews Bill Emmott on Project Syndicate . Financial News columnist David Wighton, and Christoph Winder from Der Standard joints in. Populism and the Fate of the West is debated on YouTube. The Speakers were Bill Emmott, Former Economist Editor-in-chief; Edward Luce, US columnist, Financial Times Joris Luyendijk, Investigative Journalist; and the Chair by Rowan Conway.
Bill Emmott is interviewed at Cambridge Union. This was not as interesting as the other interviews. They talked mostly of journalism. Bill Emmott and Kishore Mahbubani are interviewed at Ideas in Abu Dhabi. Kishore Mahbubani is Professor in the Practice of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, where he also served as the Founding Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy from 2004 to 2017. His book is “Has the West Lost It”.
He talks a lot of the problems of the west. People have lost faith in government. Europe is a mess. They have economic problems but also immigration problems and terrorism. It would seem to have a lot to do with new immigrants that UK voted to separate from the EU. He says that no rich country has revived or re-energized from economic or political torpor by a revision to authoritarian rule. Those that have achieved revival had done so through some new combination of openness and a restoration of equality.
He still has hope for the future of the west. I must admit I have hope but we are going through some tough times. You can see we have a problem with trust and there is a lot of polarization. Even in Canada we have people who intensely hate people of other political parties. It is not good that people have a hard time accepting an election when their political party is not the winner. I am hoping we will muddle through our problems somehow.
There is an interesting review on Kirkus Reviews. There is a review on Publishers Weekly. G. John Ikenberry reviews this book on Foreign Affairs. He also reviews The Retreat of Western Liberalism by Edward Luce. In closing he says “But, like Luce, Emmott doesn’t shed much light on the specifics of what would amount to a wholesale rethinking of the Western social contract”.
John Andrews interviews Bill Emmott on Project Syndicate . Financial News columnist David Wighton, and Christoph Winder from Der Standard joints in. Populism and the Fate of the West is debated on YouTube. The Speakers were Bill Emmott, Former Economist Editor-in-chief; Edward Luce, US columnist, Financial Times Joris Luyendijk, Investigative Journalist; and the Chair by Rowan Conway.
Bill Emmott is interviewed at Cambridge Union. This was not as interesting as the other interviews. They talked mostly of journalism. Bill Emmott and Kishore Mahbubani are interviewed at Ideas in Abu Dhabi. Kishore Mahbubani is Professor in the Practice of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, where he also served as the Founding Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy from 2004 to 2017. His book is “Has the West Lost It”.
December 19, 2017
Bill Emmott is a former editor for The Economist. I could recognise his style, precise and buttressed by solid statistics.
The West is in bad shape. It is not doing as well economically as 20 years ago. Meagre growth and heavy debts do not make it an easy environment to tread. And as the author shows, decades of complacent growth have yielded many interest groups which managed over the years to get a guaranteed share of the pie: pensioners, union members, fishermen, farmers, to name just a few. This explains the precariousness and low salaries of the young, e.g. Furthermore, it faces a resurgent Russia, emerging China and Islamism, seen as a lesser threat.
However, the biggest danger might be the temptation, felt by frustrated voters, to throw the baby with the bathwater, and abandon the very key of the West's astonishing success in the heydays: its very values of openness and transparency. This could possibly put an end to the West as we know it, as countries closing their borders become even more fragile and as voters vote for even more extreme characters, if at all possible.
The West is in bad shape. It is not doing as well economically as 20 years ago. Meagre growth and heavy debts do not make it an easy environment to tread. And as the author shows, decades of complacent growth have yielded many interest groups which managed over the years to get a guaranteed share of the pie: pensioners, union members, fishermen, farmers, to name just a few. This explains the precariousness and low salaries of the young, e.g. Furthermore, it faces a resurgent Russia, emerging China and Islamism, seen as a lesser threat.
However, the biggest danger might be the temptation, felt by frustrated voters, to throw the baby with the bathwater, and abandon the very key of the West's astonishing success in the heydays: its very values of openness and transparency. This could possibly put an end to the West as we know it, as countries closing their borders become even more fragile and as voters vote for even more extreme characters, if at all possible.
May 23, 2019
Very information rich, it was as if I needed to read each sentence multiple times to get all the juice out.
The book has an agenda, which it is up front about: in order to survive and to continue to improve, the West (not geographic as it includes Japan and South Korea) needs to embrace the principles of Openess (shares a lot of ideas with globalisation, but the author means more than that) and Political Equality of all it's citizens, that can't get high-jacked by special interest groups. It does not fit into a simplistic left/right view of the world. Most of the chapters focus on one or two case study countries, but the ideas are related to different places all round the world and cross-pollinate.
I feel like I learned so much, and now have so much more to learn.
The book has an agenda, which it is up front about: in order to survive and to continue to improve, the West (not geographic as it includes Japan and South Korea) needs to embrace the principles of Openess (shares a lot of ideas with globalisation, but the author means more than that) and Political Equality of all it's citizens, that can't get high-jacked by special interest groups. It does not fit into a simplistic left/right view of the world. Most of the chapters focus on one or two case study countries, but the ideas are related to different places all round the world and cross-pollinate.
I feel like I learned so much, and now have so much more to learn.
April 18, 2025
It is a weak 3-star, very weak, as it is a drag. It is more of an opinionated description journey of the politics in the "west" than giving us solutions or being clear about where the author's agenda lies. He bashes the US, but overlooks a lot of data it seems, and then on one positively good chapter manages to praise Sweden for their economic turnaround embracing capitalism and slimming the government - and then in the next chapter forget that the private schools there did better than the governmental ones and advocating for more governmental schools.
When I learned the rhythm of the book, it went pretty fast to read - but it is only because one could kind of skim so much of the information, because it is often not that relevant, as it is nitpicking in the style of Chomsky.
When I learned the rhythm of the book, it went pretty fast to read - but it is only because one could kind of skim so much of the information, because it is often not that relevant, as it is nitpicking in the style of Chomsky.
August 8, 2017
Useful if biased view of the position of the Western democracies in the shifting sands of global economics and politics. Emmott advances a positive view as long as certain pre-conditions are met of openness, inclusivity and entrepreneurial enthusiasm. The ideal companion to Easternisation by Gideon Rachman which gives a balanced view.
September 12, 2019
Bill Emmott thinks the west will survive Trump, Brexit, China, Putin, and the rest of the threats to the west, if the west doesn't shoot itself in the foot so frequently that it bleeds to death. However, he doesn't have much to say about global warming, which at the moment seems to be the greatest threat of all. Emmott's focus is macro economics and politics.
January 4, 2018
Important read regarding the state of our times
An important book, for politicians, business leader and anybody who believes in the core values of Western democracies, explaining historical background and showing a path to the future
An important book, for politicians, business leader and anybody who believes in the core values of Western democracies, explaining historical background and showing a path to the future
September 17, 2017
A great, in-depth investigation into the economic and social impacts of Western Culture. Relevant discussion of challenges to ideas of equality and openness of countries.
October 1, 2017
"Without openness, the West cannot thrive; but without equality, the West cannot last". This is one of the central tenet of the book. Very simple, very important and very well explained.
December 9, 2017
Strong recommendations for the future for Western countries on how to seize the possibility of a rejuvenation despite the present circumstances. Reads like a long-form Economist article.
paused-reading
August 1, 2024up to p189
November 15, 2022
摘錄：https://manjuorg.wordpress.com/2021/0...
公民與政府的關係被視為委託人（principals）與代理人（agents）關係，必須透過授權（authorize）的程序，才能使某一個人或組織向另外的個人或組織負責。
公民與政府的關係被視為委託人（principals）與代理人（agents）關係，必須透過授權（authorize）的程序，才能使某一個人或組織向另外的個人或組織負責。
Want to read
May 21, 2017Author interview:
https://www.stitcher.com/s?eid=501266...
https://www.stitcher.com/s?eid=501266...
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews