"America's New Map" Acknowledgments

From the book:

I never expected to write this book. Not because of a lack of desire to, but because I did not see myself joining a firm capable of providing me the vision, time, resources, and collaborators necessary to pull off something of this scope. One of the smartest things I have ever done was to respond to— in the middle of the COVID pandemic—an out-of-the-blue LinkedIn message from Throughline’s founder, Scott Williams, politely inquiring about my thoughts on the US military’s rapid pull-out from Afghanistan.

In just a few short months, that conversation led to both this book and my joining Throughline, a genuine dream come true for an analyst who has long sought a proper work environment for what I do best: crafting and sharing compelling stories about the future of our world, along with ideas on America’s role in shaping it. This book constitutes the greatest creative experience of my career, and I owe it all to Scott. I remain forever in his debt for his decision to seek out and orchestrate our collaboration.

Beyond the impresario Scott and his successor CEO, Brandon Jones, I owe a debt of gratitude to several immensely talented professionals at Throughline for their contributions to, and collaboration with me on, this text. First and foremost is my very own Yoda, vice president for enterprise design Julie Anixter, who brought a wealth of wisdom and experience as she coached me throughout the writing of this book. She is a muse of the first order and now a guiding force in my career. Second is director of graphic recording Jim Nuttle, who, along with daughter Sara Nuttle, is responsible for the brilliant illustrations throughout the volume. Collaborating with both was a blast—a creative luxury I never imagined I would enjoy. Third is senior business strategist Tom Zorc, who expertly captained this unprecedented initiative from launch to landing. His keen judgment is reflected throughout the book and, as such, I focused my efforts on impressing him as the target reader.

Just outside that inner circle are senior content strategist Liz Gaither and associate business strategist Maura Collins, who expertly managed all manner of processes surrounding this book’s creation and marketing efforts. If our enterprise was a naval ship, Liz was our XO, while Maura was my go-to right- hand throughout. In combination, their sharing the load made this intense effort a true joy for this author.

A special thanks goes to Throughline’s creative director, Julia Tylor, for her design of the cover, which was a fascinatingly iterative collaboration overseen by BenBella’s art director, Sarah Avinger. Enterprise design firms like ours live and die with leaders like Julia, and it was a great privilege to work with such a singular, Don Draper–like talent. Behind Julia stood both senior creative advisor Rebecca Williams and art director Jeff Bade, whose creative inputs are likewise reflected throughout this book.

As for the two dozen brilliantly executed data visualizations sprinkled throughout the volume, there the credit lies completely with principal designers Juraj Mihalik and Tom Zorc and senior designer Will Simms. The care and creativity all three brought to this effort were outstanding.

Throughline’s executives are experts at managing creative talent and throughout this intense effort I greatly benefited from the combined efforts of strategy principal Shaun Budnik, senior advisor Erica Rossi, and my executive sponsor, Trevor Brown. Even after three decades in this business, they each taught me plenty about the work and my proper role in it.

Finally, at Throughline, I must extend my thanks to senior content strategists Myrthe Doedens and Andi Martin for their red team review of the book’s illustrations, as well as to principal content strategist Amanda Sadler for her scrutiny of the data visualizations. Their keen feedback moved that needle.

Shifting to our publisher, BenBella, there are an equal number of talented professionals to acknowledge. First, of course, is publisher and CEO Glenn Yeffeth, who immediately understood our ambitions and intentions—and fears—with this book. Glenn’s initial thirty-page (!) editorial feedback on the first draft was something I will never forget. By following his proposed reordering of the content, I finally and completely understood what I was trying to say with this book. It was a great gift on his part, and the effort I had to put in to satisfy his vision of the book was the creative peak of this journey.

Editor Rachel Phares was everything an author could ask for, eliminat- ing any and all concerns on flow, tone, and accessibility. Her guidance and calm presence throughout effectively balanced this author’s consistent lurching between fear and fortitude, and for that I am most grateful. Drilling down, I also gratefully acknowledge the efforts of copy editor Judy Gelman Myers and proofreaders Lisa Story and Michael Fedison.

Having previously worked with a major publishing house, I have to say that I was completely blown away by the energy, creativity, and customized care that everyone at BenBella brought to this collective effort. Production editor Kim Broderick and production assistant Isabelle Rubio expertly managed the book’s physical and electronic transformations, while senior marketing director Jennifer Canzoneri oversaw an innovative media campaign with the support of marketing assistants Kellie Doherty, Jenny Rosen, and Amy Preston. COO Adrienne Lang managed the book’s strategic packaging and positioning, ably assisted by vendor content manager Alicia Kania, senior publishing associate Susan Welte, publishing assistant Madeline Grigg, and customer service rep- resentative Raquel Moreno. On the administrative side, I gratefully acknowledge CFO Aida Herrera and her team of Lise Engel, Debbie Petersen, and Mallory Frost. BenBella’s reputation as an author-friendly publishing house is totally deserved and I look forward to working with their entire crew in the years ahead.

Finally, I want to acknowledge the forbearance of my immediate fam- ily. Writing a book is a supremely selfish and self-centered endeavor, and my spouse, Vonne, and still (then) at-home kids, Jerry, Vonne Mei, Metsu, and Abebu, were generously accommodating of my needs and habits across the generation and assembly of this material. Their collective moral support, along with that of eldest offspring, Emily and Kevin—plus daughter-in-law Ana—remains my primary motivation as an author, husband, and father. They are my tribe, and our love for one another means everything to me.