How do we resolve the dilemma of securing important American foreign policy objectives without betraying basic American values and making ethical compromises? American leaders have cooperated with regimes around the world that are, to varying degrees, repressive or corrupt. Such cooperation is said to serve the national interest. It also often contravenes the nation’s commitments to democratic governance, civil liberties, and free markets.
In Perilous Partners, authors Ted Carpenter and Malou Innocent offer case studies of U.S. engagement with dubious allies, and show that too often American leaders have sacrificed the moral high ground in pursuit of secondary and peripheral national interests. Perilous Partners will be available in bookstores on September 22, 2015.
Ted Galen Carpenter is senior fellow for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute. Dr. Carpenter served as Cato’s director of foreign policy studies from 1986 to 1995 and as vice president for defense and foreign policy studies from 1995 to 2011. He is the author of nine and the editor of 10 books on international affairs, including The Fire Next Door: Mexico’s Drug Violence and the Danger to America, Smart Power: Toward a Prudent Foreign Policy for America, America’s Coming War with China A Collision Course over Taiwan, The Korean Conundrum: America’s Troubled Relations with North and South Korea, Bad Neighbor Policy: Washington’s Futile War on Drugs in Latin America, The Captive Press: Foreign Policy Crises and the First Amendment, Beyond NATO: Staying Out of Europe’s Wars, and A Search for Enemies: America’s Alliances after the Cold War. Carpenter is contributing editor to theNational Interest and serves on the editorial boards of Mediterranean Quarterly and the Journal of Strategic Studies, and is the author of more than 600 articles and policy studies. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, theLos Angeles Times, the Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the National Interest, World Policy Journal, and many other publications. He is a frequent guest on radio and television programs in the United States, Latin America, Europe, East Asia, and other regions. Carpenter received his Ph.D. in U.S. diplomatic history from the University of Texas.
