How Enemies Become Friends

Reviews / Votes

Finalist for the 2011 Estoril Global Issues Distinguished Book Prize Honorable Mention for the 2011 Arthur Ross Book Award, Council on Foreign Relations "Kupchan's magisterial accomplishment, drawing on an extraordinary range of theories and cases, is to provide an overarching account of when and why countries in conflict move toward stable peace...This book will be read by scholars and policy thinkers for a very long time."--G. John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs "Kupchan has a lucid style and writes with authority and wisdom. In the course of his argument, he knocks firmly on the head a number of dangerously misleading nostrums."--G. R. Berridge, Hague Journal of Diplomacy "[Kupchan] is one of those rare Americans with a genuinely global view of international relations... By the time he reaches the end of his brilliant analysis, Kupchan has shown that diplomacy and wilful compromise are the real foundations of peace."--Gilles Andreani,Survival "This wide-ranging comparative historical study seeks to discover why and how some adversaries not only achieved friendship but created zones of durable peace."--Choice "How Enemies Become Friends is an ambitious book, which, through a combination of theoretical understanding and in-depth case studies, delivers a powerful argument that champions Obama's policy of engagement with Iran and China. Such an important topic demands vigorous analysis, which Kupchan is well qualified to deliver... This book is entitled to serious consideration by those in the field of international relations."--Grace Nicholls, Majalla "[A] learned, lucid, fascinating account."--Robert Cornwall, Christian Century "How Enemies Become Friends is a highly important contribution to the debate in the United States on how to manage U.S. foreign and security policy in a world of considerably reduced U.S. power. Above all, Kupchan provides the historical and theoretical underpinning for ideas of strategic accommodation: the need for America to take large-scale and visible steps to acknowledge the power and the interests of other states, and, when necessary, to scale back its own regional ambitions and roles... The greatest strength of Kupchan's book is its extraordinarily wide-ranging account of different processes of strategic accommodation, restraint, and reconciliation through history--including a number of examples that are very rarely examined in international relations studies (the case of the Iroquois, for one)."--Anatol Lieven, Democracy "[A]n appropriately nuanced account of peacemaking that smartly frustrates traditional boundaries."--Ethics & International Affairs "[T]his is an important and eminently practical and transparent book of value to diplomats and statesmen... [I]n substance it is a clear and compelling one that, in addition, takes one into exotic politico-historic case study lore that you probably never knew before. I recommend it."--Marc E. Nicholson, AmericanDiplomacy.org "Kupchan's theoretical enterprise is as ambitious as the scope of his empirical inquiry is impressive... Kupchan gives his readers a lot of material to ponder."--Shiping Tang, World Politics "In a fascinating ... book, How Enemies Become Friends, Charles A. Kupchan reviews many historical case studies of how nation-states with a long history of conflict managed eventually to become secure and peaceful friends."--Robert Shiller, Project Syndicate "His book makes an important contribution to peace studies and it provides insights into less known cases from Asia and the Arab world... [H]is arguments are ... very convincing, and he gives us a better understanding of peace in international relations."--Alexander Kleibrink, Global Policy "[T]his book represents a provocative, compelling and eminently readable account of how international peace is forged and maintained."--Peter Harris, Political Studies Review "How Enemies Become Friends is a very insightful and well-written book which is certain to raise interest among students and researchers in IR, policymakers, and analysts, as well as the broader audience concerned with peace in world politics."--Fernando Cavalcante, Millennium: Journal of International Studies