Synopses & Reviews
and#147;A world in which the leading liberal-democratic nation does not assume its role as world policeman will become a world in which dictatorships contend, or unite, to fill the breach. Americans seeking a return to an isolationist garden of Edenand#151;alone and undisturbed in the world, knowing neither good nor eviland#151;will soon find themselves living within shooting range of global pandemonium.and#8221;and#151;From the Introduction
In a brilliant book that will elevate foreign policy in the national conversation, Pulitzer Prizeand#150;winning columnist Bret Stephens makes a powerful case for American intervention abroad.
In December 2011 the last American soldier left Iraq. and#147;Weand#8217;re leaving behind a sovereign, stable, and self-reliant Iraq,and#8221; boasted President Obama. He was proved devastatingly wrong less than three years later as jihadists seized the Iraqi city of Mosul. The event cast another dark shadow over the future of global orderand#151;a shadow, which, Bret Stephens argues, we ignore at our peril.
America in Retreat identifies a profound crisis on the global horizon. As Americans seek to withdraw from the world to tend to domestic problems, Americaand#8217;s adversaries spy opportunity. Vladimir Putinand#8217;s ambitions to restore the glory of the czarist empire go effectively unchecked, as do Chinaand#8217;s attempts to expand its maritime claims in the South China Sea, as do Iranand#8217;s efforts to develop nuclear capabilities. Civil war in Syria displaces millions throughout the Middle East while turbocharging the forces of radical Islam. Long-time allies such as Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Israel, doubting the credibility of American security guarantees, are tempted to freelance their foreign policy, irrespective of U.S. interests.
Deploying his characteristic stylistic flair and intellectual prowess, Stephens argues for American reengagement abroad. He explains how military intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan was the right course of action, foolishly executed. He traces the intellectual continuity between anti-interventionist statesmen such as Henry Wallace and Robert Taft in the late 1940s and Barack Obama and Rand Paul today. And he makes an unapologetic case for Pax Americana, and#147;a world in which English is the default language of business, diplomacy, tourism, and technology; in which markets are global, capital is mobile, and trade is increasingly free; in which values of openness and tolerance are, when not the norm, often the aspiration.and#8221;
In a terrifying chapter imagining the world of 2019, Stephens shows what could lie in store if Americans continue on their current course. Yet we are not doomed to this future. Stephens makes a passionate rejoinder to those who argue that America is in decline, a process that is often beyond the reach of political cures. Instead, we are in retreatand#151;the result of faulty, but reversible, policy choices. By embracing its historic responsibility as the worldand#8217;s policeman, America can safeguard not only greater peace in the world but also greater prosperity at home.
At once lively and sobering, America in Retreat offers trenchant analysis of the gravest threat to global order, from a rising star of political commentary.and#160;
Review
and#8220;This book is the
Wall Street Journal columnist at his best: substantive, historically informed, and with the kind of cutting style that helped him earn his Pulitzer Prize two years ago.and#8221;
and#8212;The Weekly Standard
"With a command of American history, a mastery of big foreign policy ideas, and a supple grasp of the conundrums of current events, Stephens shows that the dichotomy between domestic and international responsibilities is facile. For the worldand#8217;s sole superpower, international affairs inevitably impinge on our economy and our security. Defending our principles abroad advances our interests at home.and#8221;
and#8212;PETER BERKOWITZ, RealClearPolitics
and#8220;Given the U.S.and#8217;s recently renewed commitments in the Middle East, Stephensand#8217;s clear, convincing apologia for American power will make especially timely reading for American foreign policyand#8217;s skeptics and opponents.and#8221;
and#8212;Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
and#8220;A provocative, carefully reasoned argument, anathema to politicians as disparate as Barack Obama and Rand Paul.and#8221;
and#8212;Kirkus Reviews
and#8220;Although you can read the 288 pages of this well-researched, well-written, and passionately argued book over a weekend, its message will stay with you for years . . . . [Stephens] arguesand#8212;with impeccable logic, a dizzying array of well-sourced quotations, and reliable statisticsand#8212;that if the United States continues to retreat from its position as the worldand#8217;s policeman, disaster will strike both the world and the United States sooner rather than later.and#8221;
and#8212;ANDREW ROBERTS, Commentary magazine
and#8220;Wise counsel for a constructive, tough-minded, and sensible foreign policy. Read and learn.and#8221; and#8212;GEORGE SHULTZ, U.S. Secretary of State, 1982and#8211;1989
and#8220;At a time when the president of the United States explicitly renounces the role of and#8216;global policemanand#8217; and a remarkable proportion of Americansand#8212;conservatives and liberals alikeand#8212;seem irresistibly drawn to isolationism in all but name, Bret Stephens has written a shrewd, sharp, and shamelessly unfashionable defense of American power as a force for good in the world. He makes it clear why now, even more than in the past, the supposed benefits of Uncle Samand#8217;s retreat will swiftly be eclipsed by the very real costs of advancing terrorism and authoritarianism.and#8221; and#8212;NIALL FERGUSON, Laurence A. Tisch Professor, Harvard University; author of The Great Degeneration and Civilization
and#8220;Bret Stephens has produced a powerful and exceptionally literate rebuttal of Americaand#8217;s neoisolationists and a practical prescription for Americaand#8217;s reemergence as the worldand#8217;s essential good cop, maintaining global order without seeking to remake the world in our own image. Americans ignore his message at their own peril.and#8221; and#8212;KAREN ELLIOTT HOUSE, Pulitzer Prizeand#8211;winning reporter, editor, and publisher; author of On Saudi Arabia
and#8220;Bret Stephens takes on the urgent question of Americaand#8217;s role in the world at a time of crises and upheavals. Writing trenchantly, he argues that the United States is drifting into a dangerous and#8216;retreat doctrine.and#8217; The result will be global disorder from which the United States will not escape. While engaging seriously with the arguments of those with whom he disagrees, Stephens also depicts a frighteningly realistic scenario of such disorder just five years hence. America in Retreat will stir vigorous debateand#8212;and stimulate sober thought.and#8221; and#8212;DANIEL YERGIN, author of The Quest and the Pulitzer Prizeand#8211;winning The Prize
and#8220;Bret Stephens has the guts to make the caseand#8212;and make it brilliantlyand#8212;for why Americans need America to be the worldand#8217;s policeman (or at least the worldand#8217;s police chief when we can get allies to join our force). This book is worth buying even if you read only chapter 9 in which Stephens foresees the chilling disorder in the world if America does not reassert its global leadership. That should be effective shock treatment for the isolationists in both parties as we think about the world we want to leave our children and grandchildren.and#8221; and#8212;JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, U.S. senator from Connecticut, 1989and#8211;2013
Synopsis
Wise counsel for a constructive, tough-minded, and sensible foreign policy. Read and learn. GEORGE SHULTZ, U.S. Secretary of State, 1982 1989
The world is tipping into chaos. Why?
In this acclaimed and influential book, Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Bret Stephens shows how the retreat of American power, orchestrated by Barack Obama, has created the power vacuums now being filled by our enemies. From Vladimir Putin s quest to restore the old czarist empire, to China s efforts to dominate the South China Sea, to Iran s nuclear ambitions, to ISIS s dreams of an Islamic caliphate, we have entered an era in which our foes no longer fear us and our friends no longer trust us.
With his stylistic flair and analytical brilliance, Stephens explains the ideological roots of Obama s suspicions of American power. He demonstrates how a false belief in American decline has led to a disastrous prescription of retreat, as if the cure for domestic weakness is international weakness. In a prophetic chapter, he warns of what the world could look like in 2019 if we do not change course. And he lays out the right formula for U.S. foreign policy the same formula that brought order to our once crime-ridden streets.
America in Retreat is shaping the greatest foreign policy debate of our decade."
About the Author
BRET STEPHENS, winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for commentary, is the foreign affairs columnist and deputy editorial page editor of The Wall Street Journal. He was previously the editor in chief of the Jerusalem Post. He was raised in Mexico City, educated at the University of Chicago and the London School of Economics, and lives with his family in New York City.