What is the main message of The World as It Is?

The main message of The World as It Is is a behind-the-scenes look at Barack Obama's presidency and Ben Rhodes' role in shaping US foreign policy.

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The reading time for The World as It Is varies depending on the reader's speed. However, the Blinkist summary can be read in just 15 minutes.

Who is the author of The World as It Is?

The author of The World as It Is is Ben Rhodes.

Biography & Memoir

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Name: The World as It Is
Rating: 4.4 (36 reviews)
Author: Ben Rhodes

Ben Rhodes

A Memoir of the Obama White House

4.4 (36 ratings)

29 mins

Brief summary

'The World as It Is' by Ben Rhodes is a memoir of his 10 years as Barack Obama's foreign policy advisor. It offers an inside perspective of the historic events that shaped America's foreign policy, including the Arab Spring, Iran Deal and the rise of Trump.

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Political Figures US Presidents Memoirs US Politics

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The World as It Is
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What’s in it for me? Get a behind-the-scenes look at Obama’s White House.

Ben Rhodes was beside Barack Obama through it all, from the 2008 election campaign to the inauguration of Donald Trump, and he filled many roles: speechwriter, national security advisor, all-purpose aide – and friend. These blinks tell the story of Obama’s Presidency from Rhodes’s perspective.

From building support for the Iran nuclear deal to conducting secret negotiations with the Cuban government, Rhodes explains how the Obama administration tried to use foreign policy to do good in the world, despite stumbling blocks such as the hyper-partisanship of US politics and the sometimes stubborn and conservative administration in Washington.

Rhodes also explores some of the difficulties faced by a US government up against Russian-funded disinformation campaigns, and a political culture less and less rooted in respect for facts and the truth.

In the blinks that follow, we’ll look at some of the highlights and lowlights of working in the Obama White House.

Along the way, you’ll discover

how Obama came close to quoting Adolf Hitler in a speech to a vast audience in Berlin;
why Obama’s upbringing gave him a nuanced view of American power; and
how Obama felt about his meeting with president-elect Donald Trump.

Obama did things differently from other presidential candidates, offering change and a fresh approach.

When Barack Obama first ran for the presidency, in 2007, he represented something new. For starters, he had opposed the Iraq war when almost everyone else supported it. To many, he seemed like a beacon of hope. He used words that sounded moral, and authentic, at a time when Washington politics seemed anything but.

Obama fought his campaign with a promise of change. From a foreign-policy perspective, that meant doing things that went against the grain of establishment thinking.

For instance, Obama called for diplomacy with Iran without preconditions. The Washington political class saw this – or anything that deviated from instinctive “toughness” toward Iran – as a blunder, despite the fact that Iran was quietly progressing its nuclear program. But Obama doubled down, responding to criticisms of his foreign policy by saying, in a nod to the disastrous Iraq war, that he wouldn’t be lectured by people who had supported the greatest foreign-policy mistake of his lifetime.

In most presidential campaigns, foreign policy is a minor issue, with few votes in it beyond veterans and key ethnic constituencies. But Obama’s campaign wanted to do more. Conscious of the higher expectations placed on an African-American candidate, Obama wanted to prove his ability to handle international diplomacy and the demands of being commander-in-chief. To do this, he embarked on a campaign tour of crucial European nations and the Middle East – an unusually long detour from the standard presidential campaign trail.

A key piece of the tour would be a speech in Berlin, delivered on the site of two iconic speeches from American presidential history – Kennedy’s famous “Ich bin ein Berliner!” speech and Reagan’s speech, “Tear down this wall.”

The speech almost ended in disaster, however. Just hours before Obama spoke, the author pondered a crucial line in the speech’s ending that referred to the German word for “community of fate,” Schicksalsgemeinschaft. Double-checking with a translator, he discovered that the word had been the title of a well-known speech by Adolf Hitler!

The line was changed, just in time. And the speech – given to an enormous, cheering crowd – was a huge success. More than his actual words, which emphasized globalism over nationalism, the image of an African-American candidate addressing vast crowds on a historic stage was a powerful one.

Obama’s worldview caused tensions at home, including in his own administration.

Few presidents have had their background and outlook analyzed, and misrepresented, as much as Obama.

Obama’s worldview and background differed greatly from those of former presidents, and from those of the people – typically white men – serving in senior national security posts.

Early in his presidency, Obama made a conscious effort to talk directly to the Muslim world.

Mutual suspicion had long characterized the relationship between the United States and the Muslim world. In 2009, in a speech at Cairo University, Barack Obama tried to transform that mutual suspicion into mutual respect.

As he prepared for the speech, tensions were high. That was particularly the case for the Israelis, who had lobbied hard over its content. They feared Obama would identify the Israel-Palestine conflict as the root of all ills in the Middle East. In response to this pressure, Obama decided not to visit Israel after Cairo; he wanted to avoid any perception that the conflict was at the heart of the speech. Ironically, he would be criticized for years by supporters of the right-wing Israeli president, Benjamin Netanyahu, for this decision, despite its being made in their interest.

For Obama and his young advisors, the Arab Spring was an opportunity to be a force for good in the world.

On December 17, 2010, a story – one of thousands he received every day – popped up on the author’s BlackBerry. A fruit seller in Tunisia, Mohamed Bouazizi, frustrated by the corruption of his government, had set himself on fire. The act had sparked a blaze of protests in the region.

Neither the author nor anyone else knew it at the time, but the Arab Spring had begun.

Obama delivered on one of his earliest foreign-policy promises.

In 2011, in a secluded compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, a tall man paced up and down in a courtyard. Unbeknownst to him, he was being watched by US intelligence analysts. As they were not yet sure of his identity, they called him “the pacer.”

His true name? Osama bin Laden.

Normalizing relations with Cuba was, for once, an opportunity for the author and Obama to be proactive, not reactive.

During his time in Obama’s administration, the author had to mostly deal reactively with the messy reality of the world, from handling the legacy of George W. Bush’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to addressing emerging threats, such as Syria. He had little time to help proactively shape the world according to Obama’s foreign-policy goals and ideals.

So Obama’s efforts to normalize relations with Cuba were a welcome opportunity to engage in an affirmative agenda.

Race was a constant presence in the Obama White House, but not an easy topic for Obama to deal with.

For many Americans, Obama’s election represented a breakthrough in America’s attitude toward race. But while racism would never be far from the surface during his presidency, Obama and his team rarely addressed it directly.

The author regularly received intolerant messages on social media. In private, Obama sometimes displayed dark humor about the subject. Rehearsing for media Q&As, he’d sometimes give frank answers: Q: “Why do you think you have been unable to bring the US together?” A: “Well, maybe because my being president has driven some white people insane.” But in public, if asked whether racism drove the levels of opposition to his presidency, he’d say no, attributing it to other factors.

Obama didn’t take military action in Syria, despite his “red lines” over the use of chemical weapons.

During Obama’s time in office, the Syrian civil war emerged as one of the world’s most difficult and bloody conflicts. By 2012, the White House was concerned enough about the possible use of chemical weapons in Syria that Obama made a clear statement – any signs of the use of chemical weapons would be a “red line.” Cross it, and the United States could act.

So when reports and images of a deadly gas attack outside Damascus emerged in August 2013, there were expectations that Obama would launch military action. But he didn’t.

Obama pushed through the Iran deal despite strong opposition.

When Obama took office, Iran had the knowledge and infrastructure required to develop a nuclear weapon. By 2013, it was less than twelve months away from producing the raw materials required. The need to stop Iran’s nuclear program was becoming critical.

The administration sought a diplomatic deal to halt Iran’s nuclear activity. But this required congressional approval, and there was strong opposition to a deal. The Israeli government was pushing hard, and groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee would go on to spend roughly $40 million on ads and lobbying to kill the Iran deal.

Obama’s administration was on the losing side of the information wars.

Throughout Obama’s presidency, the author witnessed the spread of increasingly shameless misinformation. Fake news was becoming a serious issue.

The author saw Russia invest heavily in disinformation, and the United States was not well placed to fight back.

Obama and the author were surprised by Donald Trump’s victory.

A few days before the 2016 election, Obama and the author were sitting in the presidential helicopter, en route to the White House after a campaign visit, when they received an email from Clinton’s campaign. The day before the election, it asked, could Obama go to Michigan?

“Michigan?” Obama said, shocked. He had taken Michigan by ten points in 2012. This was not a good sign.

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What is The World as It Is about?

The World as It Is (2018) is a deeply personal look at the Obama presidency, written by a man who not only worked closely with the forty-fourth president, but also became his friend. Taking us on a behind-the-scenes tour of Obama’s presidency, from his first campaign to Trump’s inauguration, these blinks also chronicle the author’s personal journey from fresh-faced staffer to hardened national security operator.

The World as It Is Review

The World as It Is (2018) by Ben Rhodes takes readers behind the scenes of American politics and foreign policy during the Obama administration. Here's why this book is a must-read:

Rich in personal anecdotes and insights, it provides a rare glimpse into the intimate workings of the White House and the challenges faced on the global stage.
Thought-provoking and candid, it offers a nuanced perspective on the complexities of modern diplomacy and gives a deeper understanding of the decisions made during that time.
With its compelling storytelling and vivid descriptions, the book keeps readers engaged, shedding light on the inner workings of power and politics.

Best quote from The World as It Is

...for all the pain and polarization of the last decade, we stuck with it, and we got bin Laden.

—Ben Rhodes

Who should read The World as It Is?

History and politics buffs
Anyone interested in an inside look at the highest levels of government
People who want a better understanding of the state of US politics today

About the Author

After working on Barack Obama’s first election campaign as a senior speechwriter, Ben Rhodes served as Obama’s deputy national security adviser from 2009 to 2017. In that role, he oversaw communications and speechwriting for the administration's national security policy. Previously a congressional staffer and a writer, he coauthored Without Precedent: The Inside Story of the 9/11 Commission.

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