Running the World

"The definitive history of the National Security Council. With unique personal insight, David Rothkopf vividly illustrates how a small group of people around the President has shaped the major events of our time.  This is a must-read for anyone interested in International Affairs." --General Wesley Clark, former Supreme Allied Commander, Europe

“An impressively comprehensive, revealing, and insightful examination of the most powerful foreign policy making institution in the U.S. Government and of the key individuals who made it so.  Invaluable to scholars, practitioners and concerned citizens.”   --Zbigniew Brzezinski, former U.S. National Security Advisor

“‘Running the World’ is not only an outstanding history of the NSC, it uniquely portrays the personal chemistry among each president’s most senior advisers and between those advisers and the presidents they served.  Rothkopf has captured the critical impact of personality and personal relationships at the highest level in American national security decision-making over the past half a century.  Agree or not with the author’s prescription for the future, this is the best – and most readable -- book on the history of the NSC I have seen.”  --Robert M. Gates, former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, former Deputy National Security Advisor 

"The history of America's national security for the last 55 years has been the history of the NSC system and the NSC Staff.  Rothkopf expertly captures how the skills and shortcomings of the NSC Staff have over the years translated into America's successes and failures, with real consequences for people around the world." --Richard Clarke, author, "Against All Enemies", former U.S. Counter-Terrorism Czar and senior official in the administrations of four U.S. Presidents

"At last, a real history of the National Security Council, from its origins after World War II through its transformative Nixon - Kissinger era to its present role at the center of American national security policy-making. As an insider, Rothkopf knows how it works; as a skilled storyteller and historian, he brings it to life, in a book rich with new insights and new information." --Richard Holbrooke, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations

"Today, with national security issues dominating the headlines, understanding how and why the U.S. government makes the foreign policy decisions it does has never been more important.  David Rothkopf’s “Running the World” does a masterful job of telling the story of our modern Presidents and their inner circles, using meticulous research, lively writing and his extraordinary access to the key players to bring critical events in recent world history alive.  The book offers penetrating analysis, valuable perspectives on where we are headed and the equally important human side of the story, providing an unprecedented view of the relationships, partnerships and rivalries that have shaped and driven the National Security Council for the past 60 years.  It is likely to be seen as the definitive history of the NSC."  --Samuel R. Berger, former U.S. National Security Advisor

“If you are looking for just one book that will take you into the inner-sanctums of American foreign policy – past, present, and even the future – this is the one. Deeply researched, extraordinarily well written, and filled with colorful anecdotes and the kind of insider information that comes only with extensive interviewing, David Rothkopf’s book is both an essential read and a highly entertaining one. Once you are done, you’ll never look at America’s foreign policy – or its role in the world -- quite the same way as you did before.”  --Jeffrey E. Garten, Dean, Yale School of Management, former official in four U.S. presidential administrations

"The National Security Council is the mechanism by which history's most powerful nation deals with the outside world -- in telling its story Mr. Rothkopf has combined graceful prose, thorough research, and an eye for the heart of the matter. Not to be missed." --James Woolsey, former U.S. Director of Central Intelligence