The Rise and Fall of Peace on Earth

Description

In the twenty-five years after 1989, the world enjoyed the deepest peace in history. In The Rise and Fall of Peace on Earth, the eminent foreign policy scholar Michael Mandelbaum examines that remarkable quarter century, describing how and why the peace was established and then fell apart. To be sure, wars took place in this era, but less frequently and on a far smaller scale than in previous periods. Mandelbaum argues that the widespread peace ended because three major countries -- Vladimir Putin's Russia in Europe, Xi Jinping's China in East Asia, and the Shia clerics' Iran in the Middle East -- put an end to it with aggressive nationalist policies aimed at overturning the prevailing political arrangements in their respective regions. The three had a common motive: their need to survive in a democratic age with their countries' prospects for economic growth uncertain. 

Mandelbaum further argues that the key to the return of peace lies in the advent of genuine democracy, including free elections and the protection of religious, economic, and political liberty. Yet, since recent history has shown that democracy cannot be imposed from the outside, The Rise and Fall of Peace on Earth has a dual message: while the world has a formula for peace, there is no way to ensure that all countries will embrace it.

About the Author

Michael Mandelbaum is the Christian A. Herter Professor Emeritus of American Foreign Policy at The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the author of sixteen books, including Mission Failure, The Ideas That Conquered the World, The Meaning of Sports, The Frugal Superpower, and That Used to Be Us (with Thomas L. Friedman).

Reviews

"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

Table of contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction

Chapter One: Europe: The Lost Peace
The Blunder
From Yeltsin to Putin
The End of Peace 
The New/Old Europe

Chapter Two: East Asia: The Commercial Peace
Chinese Singularity
Chinese Revisionism
The Korean Conundrum
The New/Old East Asia

Chapter Three: The Middle East: The Hegemonic Truce
Iran
The Bomb
The Arab Spring
The New/Old Middle East

Chapter Four: Peace Regained?
Accident or Precedent?
Perpetual Peace?
Universal Democracy?