Description
Book SynopsisPaul R. Pillar examines how and why partisanship has undermined U.S. foreign policy, especially over the past three decades.
Trade ReviewFor years, Paul Pillar has been among America’s most thoughtful and independent-minded commentators on international affairs. Now he’s tackled a crucial problem: The way partisanship undermines U.S. foreign policy. Many Americans know our democracy is in trouble. This book trenchantly lays out the consequences for America’s relationship with the rest of the world. -- Peter Beinart, author of
The Crisis of ZionismPaul Pillar delivers another elegant, clear-headed analysis of American foreign policymaking and its flaws. He sees a toxic form of partisanship as a recurrent pathology in U.S. history with particular danger for our role in the world today. A sober and essential read. -- Ellen Laipson, George Mason University
An urgent cautionary tale about the very real dangers that arise from putting party and personal power above national interest. Pillar distinguishes genuine disagreements over what is best for the nation from the increasingly evident exploitation and exacerbation of polarization to demonize opposition and provoke outrage. Effective foreign policy cannot survive in such an atmosphere, and neither can democracy. -- Suzanne E. Spaulding, director, Defending Democratic Institutions Project, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Through original and compelling accounts of the political dynamics associated with major foreign policy debates, Pillar provides an in-depth historical account of ebbs and flows in the importance of partisan considerations as a shaper of foreign policy in the United States. -- Jordan Tama, author of
Terrorism and National Security Reform: How Commissions Can Drive Change During CrisesBeyond the Water’s Edge presents an ominous warning from one of the country's most respected former national security officials, chronicling the way that domestic polarization has progressively undermined American foreign policy and weakened the United States. -- Francis Fukuyama, author of
Liberalism and Its DiscontentsTable of ContentsPreface
Introduction: Parties, Policies, and Pathologies
1. From Bitter Division to Good Feelings
2. Growing into a World Power
3. The Acme of Bipartisanship
4. Sliding Back into Corruption
5. Politics as War
6. A Demagogue Takes Over a Party
7. Identifying with Foreign Interests
8. Partisanship Entrenched
9. Consequences and Prospects
Notes
Index
