How to Make Love to a Despot: An Alternative Foreign Policy for the Twenty-First Century [Hardcover]

After generations of foreign policy failures, the United States can finally try to make the world safernot by relying on utopian goals but by working pragmatically with nondemocracies. [Krasner] debuts with a rigorous, historically informed argument that good enough governance, not good government should be the guiding principle of U.S. foreign policy. . . Readers interested in foreign policy will find much food for thought in this sober, articulate account. In The most intellectually rigorous, insightful, and policy prescriptive writing on American foreign policy to appear in the first two decades of the 21st century. Stephen Krasner has brilliantly drawn from political science theory, history, and personal experience to produce a seminal work equally valuable to academics and students, government and military practitioners, and the general public. His persuasive argument that Americans must deal with the world as it is, rather than as they hope it might be, is underpinned by his clear-eyed assessment of U.S. security interests and deep appreciation of the role liberal values must play in policy formulation. Krasner's book will be an enduring classic. One doesn't have to agree with Krasner's conclusions to see the value in this book. It is tightly argued and thought-provoking and a must readeven for those who believe that support for democracy should remain a cornerstone of American foreign policy. Shall we sup with the devil or go for regime change in hell? Americas mission to make the world safe forand throughdemocracy has succeeded only in the rarest of cases, as in Germany and Japan. In this most original contribution to the literature on democracy promotion, Krasner argues compellingly that U.S. policy must be modest and realistic. Outsiders cannot implant liberal democracy in alien soil. Instead, the lodestar should be good enough governance, which might eventually bring about the real thing. In this Goldilock story 'good enough governance' isl¾