Practical Lessons from US Foreign Policy

Reviews / Votes

"There is one immutable fact about cooperative security-when practiced well, it works. Countries can solve together problems that none of them can solve alone. Ambassador Goodby and Professor Weisbrode are superb guides through the past two decades of American policy, pointing out how cooperative security could have helped us-and still could help us-to address global challenges like nuclear proliferation and climate change." (Gloria Duffy, President, The Commonwealth Club, and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense)

"The idea that America has lost its vision of global leadership has become a commonplace in the era of Trump. This thoughtful and wide-ranging compilation of op-eds reveals both the deeper history of these developments and the existence of longstanding efforts to counter them. For two decades, the esteemed diplomat-historian duo of Goodby and Weisbrode have delivered a series of prophetic warnings about the dangers and consequences of America's failure to apply and adapt the principles of collective security-diplomacy, international institutions, and regional alliances-to a rapidly changing and globalizing world. Together with their reflections on these writings, this volume offers a nuanced assessment of the US international order that dominated the second half of the twentieth century, as well as a rebuke of the dark 'America First' nationalism that has reemerged in the Trump era. This sober yet ultimately hopeful book is vital reading for the current and future generation of America's leaders and all who are dedicated to the prospect of a more peaceful, equitable, and sustainable world." (Hannah Gurman, author of The Dissent Papers: The Voices of Diplomats in the Cold War and Beyond (2012))

"This engaging collaboration of a diplomatic practitioner and a political historian offers its analysis and critique of US foreign policy-the good, the bad, and the ugly-in the years 1998-2015. Arrogance and ignorance, we learn, have appeared in American leadership predating the Trump administration." (Peter J. Katzenstein, Walter S. Carpenter, Jr. Professor of International Studies, Cornell University, USA)