In his tell-all account of his brief time serving as the national security adviser in the Trump White House, John Bolton describes, in more than 500 pages, many troubling aspects of the Trump presidency during that period, making the book a bestseller. That narrative, however, largely overshadows the very real policy mayhem of the Trump administration, policies that, in almost all cases, Bolton championed. Bolton's account is the story of America's reputational decline and outlier status in the international community under Trump.

John Bolton was Donald Trump's third national security adviser (NSA), serving in that position from April 9, 2018, through September 10, 2019—as noted on the book's jacket, a period of just 453 days. In his book, however, Bolton frequently refers to instances in which he advised Trump on policy issues prior to becoming NSA and comments at length on Trump foreign policies that he long advocated and supported even prior to his appointment. Thus, the account that follows covers the breadth of Bolton's advocacy for, support of, and involvement in Trump's foreign-policy decisions, particularly those concerning the Middle East, the focus of this journal.

Early in the book Bolton reminds the reader that he had served in three previous Republican administrations, those of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush. And he notes that he was prepared to serve again, as “eight years of Barack Obama meant there was much to repair.” During the Trump transition he had offered his services as secretary of state; in his view, “State needed a cultural revolution to be an effective instrument of policy.” But this was not to be: Bolton repeatedly notes (with some apparent pride) that, such was his reputation, he could never be confirmed for a government position that required Senate approval (secretary of state does; NSA does not).

约翰·博尔顿 (John Bolton) 在讲述他在特朗普白宫短暂担任国家安全顾问的短暂经历中，用 500 多页的篇幅描述了特朗普总统在此期间的许多令人不安的方面，使这本书成为畅销书。然而，这种说法在很大程度上掩盖了特朗普政府真正的政策混乱，几乎在所有情况下，博尔顿都支持这些政策。博尔顿的叙述是关于美国在特朗普领导下的国际社会声誉下降和异类地位的故事。

约翰·博尔顿是唐纳德·特朗普的第三任国家安全顾问 (NSA)，从 2018 年 4 月 9 日到 2019 年 9 月 10 日期间担任该职位——如该书封套所示，任期仅为 453 天。然而，在他的书中，博尔顿经常提到他在成为国家安全局之前就政策问题向特朗普提供建议的例子，并详细评论了他甚至在被任命之前就长期倡导和支持的特朗普外交政策。因此，接下来的叙述涵盖了博尔顿对特朗普外交政策决定的倡导、支持和参与的广度，特别是那些与中东有关的决定，这是本杂志的重点。

在本书的开头，博尔顿提醒读者，他曾在前三届共和党政府中任职，即罗纳德·里根、乔治·HW·布什和乔治·W·布什。他指出，他已准备好再次服役，因为“巴拉克·奥巴马 (Barack Obama) 的八年意味着需要修复的地方很多。” 在特朗普过渡期间，他提供了国务卿的服务；在他看来，“国家需要文化革命作为有效的政策工具。” 但事实并非如此：博尔顿反复指出（带着一些明显的自豪感），这就是他的名声，他永远无法获得需要参议院批准的政府职位的确认（国务卿有；国家安全局没有）。