The Foreign Service Journal, November 2020

Afghanistan’s first national park and protect endangered species, including the iconic Marco Polo sheep and the elusive snow leopard. The frustrations and obstacles that came with pursuing his mission as a U.S. government contractor in a war zone are part of this captivating story. Alex Dehgan, who teaches at Duke University, is the founder and CEO of Conservation X Labs, an organization focused on transforming conservation through technological and financial innovation. He served previously as USAID’s chief scientist. The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir Samantha Power, Dey Street Books, 2019, $29.99/hardcover, e-book available, 592 pages. In this memoir, Samantha Power recounts how she juggled the demands of a 24/7 national security job with the challenge of raising two young children. Along the way, she illuminates the intricacies of politics and geopolitics, reminding us how the United States can lead in the world, and why we each have the opportunity to advance the cause of human dignity. Samantha Power served in the Obama administration as a human rights adviser and then as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (2013-2017). Her previous book, A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide , won the Pulitzer Prize in 2003. She is currently a professor of practice at Harvard Law School and Harvard Kennedy School. Demagogue: The Life and Long Shadow of Senator Joe McCarthy Larry Tye, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020, $36/hardcover, e-book available, 608 pages. By recklessly charging treason against everyone from George Marshall to State Department personnel between 1950 and 1954, Senator Joe McCarthy (R-Wis.) destroyed many careers and lives. This definitive biography is the first to draw on his personal and professional papers, medical and military records, and recently unsealed transcripts of closed-door congressional hearings. McCarthy’s chaotic, meteoric rise is a gripping and terrifying object lesson for us all. Yet his equally sudden fall from fame offers reason for hope that, given the rope, most American demagogues eventually hang themselves. Larry Tye, a former prize-winning journalist at The Boston Globe and a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, is the author of The New York Times bestseller Satchel , as well as The Father of Spin , Home Lands and Rising from the Rails. Hell and Other Destinations: A 21st-Century Memoir Madeleine Albright, Harper, 2020, $29.99/hardcover, e-book available, 384 pages. In 2001, when Madeleine Albright was leaving office as America’s first female Sec- retary of State, interviewers asked her how she wished to be remembered. “I don’t want to be remembered,” she answered. “I am still here and have much more I intend to do. As difficult as it might seem, I want every stage of my life to be more exciting than the last.” True to that declaration, Ms. Albright has blazed her own trail, and given voice to millions who yearn for respect, regardless of gender, background or age. Hell and Other Destinations reveals this remarkable figure at her bluntest, funniest, most intimate and most serious. Madeleine Albright served as America’s 64th Secretary of State from 1997 to 2001. Her distinguished career also includes positions at the White House, on Capitol Hill and as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. The Lady of Silk and Steel: From Everest to Embassies Sue M. Cobb, Ian Randle Publishers, 2020, $24.95/hardcover, 376 pages. In this memoir, Sue Cobb traces her jour- ney from near-destitute circumstances on a small California farm to graduation from Stanford University, tennis and downhill ski racing stardom, and a suc- cessful legal practice. Her experience in the world of diplomacy began when her husband, Charles Cobb, was appointed ambassador to Iceland and culminated when she was named U.S. envoy to Jamaica in 2001. She shares insights on policy issues, as well as useful reflections on the role of political ambassadors. As one reviewer wrote: “She cut to the meat of what an ambassador does on the job—lead, manage and take the heat.” 44 NOVEMBER 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL