The Politics of Our Time

"Essential reading." -- E.J. Dionne, Jr., The Washington Post

"A sobering assessment of recent history as a string of poorly managed catastrophes....skillfully argued." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Judis's wide-ranging study draws informative connections between disparate world events. Readers will walk away with a firmer grasp on current affairs." -- Publishers Weekly


The distinguished political analyst John Judis has brought out a book with Columbia Global Reports during each of the last three national political seasons: The Populist Explosion in 2016, The Nationalist Revival in 2018, and The Socialist Awakening in 2020. Together, these books chart the rise during the second decade of the twenty-first century of new and unexpected political movements in the United States and Europe that arose in the wake of the Great Recession, the conflict with al-Qaeda and ISIS, and encroaching climate change.

Judis has revised and updated these three books, and written a new introductory essay that seeks to explain the tumultuous last decade--most notably, Donald Trump's presidency and the response to a global pandemic and recession. This volume is an indispensable guide to understanding the deeply rooted disenchantment that gave rise to populist parties and politicians on the right and left--and to the global changes that have transformed the politics of our time.

John B. Judis is Editor-at-Large at Talking Points Memo and author of many books, including The Socialist Awakening, The Nationalist Revival, The Populist Explosion, and The Emerging Democratic Majority, cowritten with Ruy Teixeira. He has written for numerous publications, including The New Republic, The National Journal, The New York Times Magazine, and The Washington Post Magazine. Born in Chicago, he receied his B.A. and M.A. degrees in Philosophy from the University of California, Berkeley. He lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.