When I was watching The West Wing during its original run, I was appreciative of how Aaron Sorkin and his team didn’t just serve up good drama, but built stories out of what was going on in the real world. And as time passed after the series ended, and I re-watched it over and over, I was struck by how prescient it turned out to be: many things that seemed pure fiction on the show ended up happening on the news, from the nuclear tensions of India/Pakistan and North Korea to government shutdowns to US senators holding up military promotions to get their own way.

The first volume of this series focused on domestic politics – democracy in the USA. This second volume focuses on the international landscape, with attention to global politics in recent years – from the fentanyl crisis and Mexican border to US alliances with autocratic nations, to the terrible confrontation between Israel and Hamas still underway at this writing.

These and more were foreshadowed on The West Wing, and call for our attention and serious thought today. As always, I hope this volume is both entertaining and thought-provoking!.