Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Dissent Channel

By: Elizabeth Shackelford
Narrated by: Suehyla El-Attar
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

A young diplomat's account of her assignment in South Sudan, a firsthand example of US foreign policy that has failed in its diplomacy and accountability around the world.

In 2017, Elizabeth Shackelford wrote a pointed resignation letter to her then boss, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. She had watched as the State Department was gutted, and now she urged him to stem the bleeding by showing leadership and commitment to his diplomats and the country. If he couldn't do that, she said, "I humbly recommend that you follow me out the door."

With that, she sat down to write her story and share an urgent message.

In The Dissent Channel, former diplomat Elizabeth Shackelford shows that this is not a new problem. Her experience in 2013 during the precarious rise and devastating fall of the world's newest country, South Sudan, exposes a foreign policy driven more by inertia than principles, to suit short-term political needs over long-term strategies.

Through her story, Shackelford makes policy and politics come alive. And in navigating both American bureaucracy and the fraught history and present of South Sudan, she conveys an urgent message about the devolving state of US foreign policy.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2020 Elizabeth Shackelford (P)2020 Hachette Audio
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

A Sacred Oath cover art
Separated cover art
In the Dark of War cover art
Worthy Fights cover art
Playing to the Edge cover art
The Craft We Chose: My Life in the CIA cover art
The Good American cover art
Sledgehammer cover art
Saving Aziz cover art
A Rope from the Sky cover art
The Lumumba Plot cover art
Moscow, December 25,1991 cover art
They Call It Diplomacy cover art
The Targeter cover art
Never Give an Inch cover art
Hell and Other Destinations cover art

Critic reviews

"At a time when many Americans are wondering if a values-based foreign policy is either desirable or feasible, Elizabeth Shackelford offers a passionate and detailed account of the risks of not having one, under the challenging circumstances faced by the Obama Administration in South Sudan. In presenting one side of a complex story, Elizabeth reveals why it is imperative now more than ever that dissenting voices, particularly from those closest to the ground, be heard and answered" (Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO, New America)

"In these norm-shattering times, we urgently need to examine and learn from mistakes of the past. This beautifully written, personal story exposes uncomfortable truths about the costs of America's foreign policy approach and, without cynicism, offers some hope for a better way forward." (Yara Bayoumy, national security editor, The Atlantic)

"An honest accounting by a patriot seeking a deliberate national discourse on what actually makes America great." (Kirkus Reviews)

What listeners say about The Dissent Channel

Average customer ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.