The Rise and Fall of Peace on Earth

This book addresses the most critical foreign relations question of our times: is the post-Cold War era of peace over and conflict resurfacing? Mandelbaum expertly probes the threats and prospects. -- Azar Gat, University of Tel Aviv, and author of War in Human Civilization In this fascinating study, Mandelbaum takes dead aim at the Wilsonian foreign policy optimism of the pre-Trump era. He argues that the post-Cold War quarter-century was indeed unusually peaceful, due to US predominance combined with the spread of market democracies, but that this liberal democratic peace has now broken down with the rise of revisionist authoritarian powers in each major region. His conclusion is thought-provoking and distinct: the democratic peace is real yet cannot be imposed. -- Colin Dueck, George Mason University, and author of The Obama Doctrine and Hard Line Mandelbaum has never shied away from tackling the big questions in international politics, and he never fails to offer lucid, compelling answers. In The Rise and Fall of Peace on Earth, he asks why peace reigned for twenty-five years after the end of the Cold War in 1989 and why it has now begun to fray in three critical regions: Europe, East Asia, and the Middle East. His incisive explanation is presented, as always, in elegant prose. -- Rajan Menon, City University of New York, and author of The Conceit of Humanitarian Intervention Exceptionally wise, erudite and compelling, Mandelbaum has produced the definitive record of the rise and fall of the 'deep peace.' Masterful in its historical command and judicious in the strategic lessons to be drawn, he offers cause for hope and dismay to advocates of liberal democratic capitalism everywhere. The formula for peace that works best is one the US cannot install where it is needed most. A must-read volume. -- Robert Singh, Professor of Politics, University of London, Birkbeck Writing with a rare combination of equanimity and incisiveness, Mandelbaum shows that while the spread of freedom and democracy around the globe has been very much to America's advantage, the United States is poorly equipped to foster the cluster of norms, habits, and institutions on which they depend in the authoritarian states currently destabilizing the international order. --RealClearPolitics