There and Back : Commentary by a Former Foreign Correspondent

In an era of instant access to worldwide news, we are lucky to have voices who can speak from the vantage point of many years of on-the-ground experience. Barrie Dunsmore, who traveled the world for over thirty years as a foreign correspondent with ABC News, has one of those voices. He is able to analyze current events with a veteran reporter's eye, a humble sense of humor, and a longer view of history than most contemporary opinion-based news sources. He is a careful keeper of our collective world history, and as such offers an important and increasingly rare perspective on current events.

The collection of pieces in There and Back offers quick and sometimes witty entrances into decade-long discussions about Middle East policy, superpower strategies, and controversial domestic issues. Dunsmore comments on various aspects of recent Middle Eastern history: the Arab Spring revolutions, America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the nuclear threats posed by Iran's theocratic government. He takes us inside the arms races of the Cold War, relying heavily on his coverage of the diplomatic relations between the U.S. and the Soviets during that time. He also takes us through a tour de force of commentary on politics, current events, cultural phenomena, and leadership within the U.S. Dunsmore's grounded and non-sensational approach to writing allows him to thoughtfully explain the world issues inherited by this generation.

It is because of his experience abroad that Dunsmore is able to observe domestic events with such accurate focus. He uses his deep knowledge of historical events, many of which he lived through and reported on, to simplify the decades of policy and diplomacy that have led us to today. After reading Dunsmore's careful encapsulations of complicated international relationships, today's global situations suddenly become clearer.

This collection of columns are the offerings of a mind sharply tuned to the long view of truth and to a lifetime of practicing thoughtful reflection.

BARRIE DUNSMORE covered foreign affairs for ABC News for thirty years reporting from Washington and abroad on the policies of seven U.S. Presidents from Johnson to Clinton. He traveled with them all overseas and was a regular on the planes of their Secretaries of State. From 1965-95 he reported from more than one hundred countries on virtually every major international event from wars to summits to diplomatic shuttles.