A historically-grounded examination of United States foreign policy that interrogates the ideological assumptions¿whether explicit or tacit¿that drive it.

Preface.....................................................................................................................5

Part I - A Brief History of U.S. Foreign Policy

1. Introduction: War Is the Health of the State...............................................13
2. The American Founders, the State, and War..............................................27
3. The Anti-Imperial Empire...........................................................................41
4. Imperialists Triumphant?............................................................................53
5. The World Wars and Their Lessons............................................................71
6. The Triumph of the Permanent Warfare State............................................89
7. Post 9/11 - Terrorizing Ourselves.............................................................111

Part II - The Elements of Modern Libertarian Foreign Policy

1. The Case for Skepticism...........................................................................129
2. The Problem with American Primacy.......................................................143
3. Free Riders, Reckless Drivers, and Perilous Partners...............................155
4. Forcing Freedom.......................................................................................173
5. The Global Economy................................................................................185
6. New Rules.................................................................................................195
7. Promised Land..........................................................................................209

Acknowledgements..............................................................................................219

Bibliography.........................................................................................................221

Christopher Preble is the vice president for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute. He is the author of The Power Problem: How American Military Dominance Makes Us Less Safe, Less Prosperous, and Less Free (Cornell University Press, 2009) and John F. Kennedy and the Missile Gap (Northern Illinois University Press, 2004). He coedited, with John Mueller, A Dangerous World? Threat Perception and U.S. National Security (Cato Institute, 2014); and, with Jim Harper and Benjamin Friedman, Terrorizing Ourselves: Why U.S. Counterterrorism Policy Is Failing and How to Fix It (Cato Institute, 2010).
Preble has also published articles in major publications, including the New York Times, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, the Financial Times, National Review, The National Interest, and Foreign Policy, and is a frequent guest on television and radio. In addition to his work at Cato, Preble teaches the U.S. foreign policy elective at the University of California, Washington Center.