US Foreign Policy

Michael Cox is Professor Emeritus of International Relations at the London School of Economics (LSE). He was one of the founding directors of LSE's foreign policy think tank LSE IDEAS, and he also holds a visiting professorship at the Catholic University of Milan. The author, editor and co-editor of over 30 books, his most recent include Agonies of Empire: American Power from Clinton to Biden (Bristol University Press, 2022); Afghanistan: Long War - Forgotten Peace (LSE Press, 2022); and Ukraine: Russia's War and the Future of the Global Order (LSE Press, 2023).Doug Stokes is Professor in International Relations, Modul University, Vienna. He was previously Director of Exeter University's Strategy and Security Institute, and Senior Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). His major research focus is on the durability of the US-led liberal international order and the ways in which great powers can use military power to shape international relations. His books include Against Decolonisation: The Campus Culture Wars and the Decline of the West (Polity, 2023) and Global Energy Security and American Hegemony (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010).

A uniquely insightful, comprehensive, and incisive contribution to a topic that is as significant for the historical study of international relations as it is for understanding contemporary debates about the US' global role. At a time when US engagement beyond its borders is dominating conversation across the globe, this volume provides a detailed understanding of the most relevant historical context, theoretical perspectives, and policy perspectives.

• Section 1: Framing US foreign policy 1: Michael Cox and Doug Stokes: Introduction: US foreign policy: past, present, and future 2: Brian C. Schmidt: Theories of US foreign policy Section 2: The past as present 3: Walter LaFeber: The US rise to world power: 1776-1945 4: Michael Cox: Rethinking the American Century? From Truman to Trump, 1945-2025 Section 3: Home front 5: Brian Klaas: US democracy in crisis 6: Peter Trubowitz: Regional polarization and US foreign policy 7: Inderjeet Parmar and Valentina Aronica: Elites and US foreign policy Section 4: American power 8: Timothy J. Lynch: Fragmented superpower? 9: Carla Norrlöf: Dollar hegemony 10: Hendrik W. Ohnesorge: Soft power and US foreign policy: A post-liberal turn? Section 5: The United States and war 11: Michael J. Williams: The American way of war 12: Caroline Kennedy-Pipe and Wooyun Jo: Military power Section 6: New security issues 13: Sylvia Bashevkin: Gender 14: Guri Bang and Robyn Eckersley: Climate change Section 7: The return of geopolitics 15: Jeffrey W. Taliaferro: The return of great power competition 16: Peter Rutland: Russia in the age of Putin Section 8: Asian dilemmas 17: Feng Zhang: America in an Asian century 18: Tanvi Madan: US-India Relations Section 9: Regional challenges 19: Toby Dodge: US foreign policy in a changing Middle East 20: Jussi M. Hanhimäki: Pax Transatlantica: NATO from the Cold War to the war in Ukraine 21: Alvaro Mendez and Chris Alden: Latin America and the Caribbean: The Monroe Doctrine and beyond Section 10: Contending futures 22: Stephen G. Brooks and William C. Wohlforth: The myths of American decline 23: Christopher Layne: The end of Pax Americana 24: G. John Ikenberry: Why the liberal order will survive 25: Anatol Lieven: Trump and the future of US foreign policy