A Pact with the Devil

Reviews / Votes

"Smith is to be commended for unpacking the linkages among liberal internationalism and neoconservative transformational politics. His is a useful corrective to those who wish to pin blame for the Iraq War on neoconservative cronies pouring poison into the ear of a naive President."

-Lane Crothers, Illinois State University

"It is rare I am asked to review a book that I think I will dislike but actually ended up rather enjoying. Tony Smith's A Pact with the Devil is his sixth book - and his most interesting. His starting point is the 'certifiably meglomaniac' Bush Doctrine and its 'bid for world supremacy.' But his target is not 'the devil' - the neocons et al - of the title. Rather, it is the 'pact' made with them by various 'neolib scholars, scholar-activists, and activists'. It was these men and women - largely Democrat-leaning - that helped generate 'the intellectual underpinnings' of the Bush doctrine and of the Iraq invasion in particular...Any book written by a liberal scholar containing the line 'it would be a serious mistake to exaggerate the importance of the neoconservatives' deserves a wide readership. If his purpose was to open up, rather than foreclose, debate he has succeeded."

-Timothy Lynch, Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of London "With rare courage and devastating insight Tony Smith analyzes how militant liberals-seeking to use American military power to further democratic values-allied themselves with conservative nationalists in a 'crusade' of war and aggression that betrayed their own principles. A Pact with the Devil is the 'J'accuse' of the Iraq war, and war liberals no less than war conservatives are its target."

-Ronald Steel, Professor of International Relations, University of Southern California

"In the course of this provocative polemic, Smith attacks practically everybody who writes about foreign policy in the United States today. A Pact with the Devil might well end up being one of the most talked-about and controversial books of the year."

-David Fromkin, Professor of International Relations, Boston University

"A compelling expose-and biting indictment-of the ideological excesses that have led U.S. foreign policy so woefully off course. Smith spares neither liberals nor conservatives as he explores the intellectual origins of America's imperial turn."

-Charles A. Kupchan, Georgetown University and Council on Foreign Relations, author of The End of the American Era

"This is a deeply disturbing and important book. A probing examination of the Bush Doctrine that shows that its roots lie not in a fringe neoconservative movement, but in liberal political thought that is central to much American thought and history. Smith convincingly argues that liberalism's optimism, faith in democracy, and expectation of progress have combined with fear of terrorism and America's excessive power to yield utopian policies that undermine our values at home and abroad."

-Robert Jervis, Adlai E. Stevenson Professor of International Politics, Columbia University

"A Pact with the Devil is a fascinating, learned, and deeply troubling book. It is now obvious that the neoconservatives and their foolish ideas have done enormous damage to America's international position, but Smith shows that liberal internationalists-whose ranks include many prominent Democrats-also bear considerable blame for the fiasco in Iraq and other failures of recent U.S. foreign policy. This impassioned and insightful work demonstrates why America's liberal ideals must always be tempered by realism, and by a clear appreciation of what U.S. power can and cannot do."

-Stephen M. Walt, Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of International Affairs, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

"There is no one better qualified than Tony Smith to trace the intellectual origins of the Bush Doctrine. With his characteristic verve and clarity, Smith shows just how influential liberal internationalist thinking in the 1990s, with its triumphalist overtones, has been in providing the intellectual capital for the Bush Administration's quest to spread democracy by force of arms. This is a penetrating book."

-Robert J. Art, Christian A. Herter Professor of International Relations, Brandeis University

"It will be hard for anyone to say after reading this book, that the mission was just, we simply did not do it right."

-Lloyd Gardner, Rutgers University