About the Author
Shri Hardeep Singh Puri is an Indian Politician, Former Diplomat and Author. He was inducted into the Council of Ministers in September 2017 and was appointed as the Minister of State with Independent Charge for Housing and Urban Affairs. Currently, Shri Hardeep S Puri holds portfolios of Housing and Urban Affairs, & Petroleum and Natural Gas. A 1974-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, he served as the Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations in Geneva and New York and served additionally in Tokyo and Colombo. He has had a distinguished four-decade career in diplomacy spanning both the bilateral and the multilateral arenas. He held ambassadorial posts in London, Brazil, and was India's permanent representative to the UN in both Geneva and New York. He presided over the UN Security Council in August 2011 and November 2012 and chaired its Counter-Terrorism Committee. He is the author of Perilous Inventions: The Security Council and the Politics of Chaos.
About the Book
Many democratically elected leaders of the twenty-first century have displayed streaks of recklessness, megalomania, bizarre self-obsession, and political views that are difficult to characterise. This book studies the action of these contemporary political leaders and covers Brexit, the election of Donald Trump, the rise of the BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and decision-making with respect to global governance, terrorism, and trade. It brings to light the fact that at the heart of delusional politics is perhaps the delusional politician.
Review
It is an insightful and opinionated book about the three major events in probably three important countries of the global order namely, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. Apart from them, the author has discussed questions such as global governance, Terrorism, and Trade from the perception of the aforementioned three countries as well as, vaguely, the international community. Again, these three events are characterised by three renowned political figures of the respective nations which are primarily the heads of governments. The author precisely describes the journey of the events and presents his opinions in a convincing manner. Through his writing, the reader could easily figure out the formulation of the images of political figures, done by the author. One may agree with his views, one may not. As far as international issues are concerned, yes his perspective shall be considered for forming one's own opinion regarding the same issues. Since the author is a renowned diplomat, he also shares his personal anecdotes revolving around the political entities to reflect an evidencing factor validating his opinions. He explores various drivers and rationales of the journeys whose outcomes were the aforementioned political events.
I would recommend this book to political enthusiasts to acknowledge the existing opinions with respect to some recent major political events, especially of a person whose political credentials add insurmountable gravity to his views on the issues. But yes, along with his views, the informative aspect of this book is also evident throughout the readings.