The Wake-Up Call cover art

The Wake-Up Call

Why the Pandemic Has Exposed the Weakness of the West - and How to Fix It

Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for £0.00
£8.99/mo thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Offer ends 31 July 2025 at 23:59 GMT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

The Wake-Up Call

By: John Micklethwait, Adrian Wooldridge
Narrated by: Kristin Scott Thomas
Try for £0.00

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends 31 July 2025 23:59 GMT. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £9.99

Buy Now for £9.99

Confirm Purchase
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.
Cancel

About this listen

Good government is now the difference between living and dying....

The COVID crisis has not just highlighted the failures of certain governments, it is accelerating a shift in the balance of power from West to East. After a decade where politics in the US and the UK has been consumed with inward-facing struggles, countries like South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan as well as China have made extraordinary advances economically, technologically and politically.

In this beautifully crafted essay, Micklethwait and Wooldridge explain how we ended up in this mess and explore the possible routes out. If Western governments respond creatively to the crisis, they will have a chance of reversing decades of decline; if they dither and delay while Asia continues to improve, the prospect of a new Eastern-dominated world order will increase. The big question facing the world is whether the West can rise to the challenge as it has before.

©2020 John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge (P)2020 Octopus Publishing Group
Elections & Political Process Politics & Government United States World China Capitalism Imperialism Government Socialism Russia

Listeners also enjoyed...

Arguing with Socialists cover art
The Sickness Is the System cover art
Defeating the Dictators cover art
Values, Voice and Virtue cover art
Colonialism cover art
Defeating Big Government Socialism cover art
Fighting for the Dream cover art
The Stakes cover art
Split: Class Divides Uncovered cover art
Daylight Robbery cover art
Blackshirts and Reds cover art
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism cover art
Why Vote Leave cover art
A Duty of Care cover art
All In cover art
Against the Great Reset cover art
All stars
Most relevant  
This excellent book covers a broad sweep of history and philosophy, beginning and ending with Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury’s view of the role of the Leviathan. It is essentially about how the democratic state needs to evolve and improve to meet the challenges of our times. It is full of witty observations and even includes a reference to the dystopian movie Taxi Driver. Wonderfully read by Kristin Scott Thomas. Highly recommend!

Alarm clock has sounded!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Some important topics discussed and posed.....
I really hope this pandemic can be a vehicle for a worldwide reset and reflection on where we're as individual states and a global society.
In adversity, opportunities arise!

Very interesting!!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Unusual in tackling a big real problem, the decline of the west. very perceptive in parts. tries but can't really hide a right wing agenda. for example takes a sympathetic view of the reason why the public sector is struggling and proposes structural changes but seems baffled as to why those arent adopted. a deeper analysis might look at where power lies, money, media etc

some important ideas

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

If at any time you have felt that political party members appear just to say what they think you need to hear, just to receive their vote. If you also feel that they are never held to account,bonce they are in power, they fail to deliver the one thing you voted them in on. For me, this book is just the start to add reason to the journey of British and world politics. More please - once yearly political summaries would be welcome. Thank you.

Needs to be listened to....

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Well written with clear and precise points made by the authors. Excellently narrated by Kristin Scott Thomas.

Good

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.