"[An] executive summary of modern political history studded with sweeping assertions and telling anecdotes." -- The New York Times Book Review

"Thought-provoking." -- Kirkus Reviews

"A shot in the arm...powerful." -- The Financial Times

"The Wake-Up Call, refreshingly concise and eminently readable, highlights how the modern crisis of governance compounded the challenges of the pandemic." -- Bloomberg

"The Wake-Up Call argues that Covid-19 has exposed not just one president's shortcomings but a much more profound degeneration of governance dating back long before 2016...You will read no more interesting book on the political consequences of the pandemic than this." -- Niall Ferguson, author of Civilization: The West and the Rest

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF 2020 (BLOOMBERG)

An urgent and informed look at the challenges America and world governments will face in a post Covid-19 world.

The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed that governments matter again, that competent leadership is the difference between living and dying. A few governments proved adept at handling the crisis while many others failed. Are Western governments healthy and strong enough to keep their citizens safe from another virulent virus--and protect their economies from collapse? Is global leadership passing from the United States to Asia--and particularly China?

The Wake-Up Call addresses these urgent questions. Journalists and longtime collaborators John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge identify the problems Western leaders face, and outline a detailed plan to help them become more vigilant, better prepared, and responsive to disruptive future events.

The problems that face us are enormous; as The Wake-Up Call makes clear, governments around the world must re-engineer the way they operate to successfully meet the challenges ahead.