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

Krasner, a professor of international relations at Stanford University, debuts with a rigorous, historically-informed argument that “good enough governance, not good government” should be the guiding principle of U.S. foreign policy toward despotic regimes. Charting a century’s worth of back-and-forth between interventionism and isolationism, Krasner contends that the asymmetrical nature of today’s threats (“groups or individuals with few resources can now kill thousands or hundreds of thousands of people”) requires a realpolitik in which improved national security, better access to immunization and other health programs, economic growth, and “perhaps some limited protection of human rights” replace the unattainable goal of remaking other countries in America’s image. To bolster his case, Kasner contrasts failed foreign interventions, including Iraq and Afghanistan, with Colombia, where the U.S. has provided resources to fight drug trafficking and terrorism without requiring democratic reforms. Though Kasner admits that working with, and not actively against, despots will be “anathema” to much of the U.S. electorate, he doesn’t fully reckon with domestic political considerations, and the book’s academic register and numerous repetitions belie its eye-catching title. Nevertheless, readers interested in foreign policy will find much food for thought in this sober, articulate account. (Apr.)