When America Stopped Being Great: a history of the present

Nick Bryant in When America Stopped Being Great looks at American politics from the time of Ronald Reagan to Joe Biden and examines how the political system allowed the rise of Donald Trump. The book was revised in 2021 to include events in 2020 including COVID-19 and the results of the election which Trump appears convinced was stolen.

Nick Bryant spent time in the USA when a student and returned as a corespondent for the BBC in time to witness the ascent Donald Trump to the White House. There was surprise by many when Trump won the election, however Bryant argues that the growing political divide now apparent in the USA had been developing over many years. 

Trump used this political and economic divide to his advantage. As well as promoting showmanship over statesmanship, Trump also utilised the many new social media tools at his disposal to publicise his latest idea and encourage the growth of conspiracy theories. It was not until after the election that the mainstream press realised the extent of the following Trump had for his views.

Trump was very good at pointing out problems affecting the lives of his supporters and encouraging them to show their approval for him at rallies, especially by chanting slogans. One of Trump's campaign slogans was Make America Great Again. 

Since the 1980s America had faced economic downturns, changes in technology that caused a downturn in employment opportunities, changed foreign relations, increased influxes of immigrants, racial unrest, terrorist attacks and a growing divide between the supporters of the two political parties as well as the way younger and older people voted (or didn't vote). The USA had become a divided country and the advent of Trump and his ideas only increased that division. 

Nick Bryant provides a detailed and informative study of the increasing divisions in American society and the consequent decline in American politics.

The Rise and Fall of Australia: How a great nation lost its way.

British journalist, Nick Bryant, worked in Australia for the BBC for a number of years. Arriving in 2006 he was able to observe the chaos in federal politics with the constant change of leaders and government of the country being largely based on the Polls and perceived Public Opinion rather than on strong government and policy making. The book was published in 2014 but unfortunately the same political disorder continues in 2024.

In his analysis of Australian politics and governance, Bryant describes what is good about our country and culture as well as observing the chaos that is Australian politics in the twenty-first century. He observed how Australia had avoided the recent economic recessions that had impacted on other countries and suggested that countries such as England could have learned much from Australia. He discusses how our political systems developed from the British system, but Australia had led the way in implementing universal suffrage including votes for women, compulsory voting as well as preferential voting in most elections.

In The Rise and Fall of Australia, Nick Bryant observes how Australia has navigated what he calls 'the British century', 'the American century' and now 'the Asian century' as various foreign powers have impacted on our policy making and alliances.  For many years Australia depended on Britain but since the Second World War our alliances have been influenced more by America. 

For much of the book Nick Bryant observes what a great place Australia is to live in, however in many cases Australians are not aware of this. It is acknowledged that Australians generally do well at sport at home and overseas but for many years cultural cringe has influenced the thinking and beliefs of many Australians about our success in other areas. Australians have had success in art, theatre, films and music throughout the world, particularly in England, the USA and in other countries as well.

Generally we live in a country with many opportunities. We just have to elect politicians who will be prepared to govern the country wisely rather than just play politics. It may also help if journalists engaged in reporting the facts rather than just looking for a headline.