A group of the nation's most prominent foreign policy analysts offer bold and imaginative ideas for U.S. national strategy in the next presidency and beyond. They clarify an increasingly complex world, identify the threats and opportunities ahead, and offer blueprints for achieving national security and international stability.

Acknowledgements ; Contributors ; Introduction ; 1. A Farewell to Geopolitics ; 2. End of Dreams, Return of History ; 3. Beyond Statecraft ; 4. Liberal Order Building ; 5. Boss of Bosses ; 6. Legitimacy and Competence ; 7. Two Concepts of Sovereignty ; 8. A Shackled Hegemon ; 9. Soft Talk, Big Stick ; 10. The Problem of Conjecture ; 11. Dilemmas of Strategy

"This is a smart book. Melvyn Leffler and Jeffrey Legro have put together an all-star cast...It is interesting that a book that lambasts the havoc wrought by George W. Bush ends up calling, not for a radical departure from extensive American involvement with the world, but rather a change in the tone, shape, and implementation of that involvement."--H-Diplo Roundtable Reviews "An able and diverse set of analysts propose strategies for American leadership after the Bush years. This would make interesting reading for the next president!"--Joseph S. Nye, University Distinguished Service Professor, Harvard University and author of The Powers to Lead "Plenty of lively debate and rich food for thought."--Publishers Weekly "If you have to choose only one book to read on American foreign policy in 2008, this should be it. A superb group of scholars and practitioners have crystallized the basic strategic choices and policy options facing a new administration. They disagree sharply among themselves, but these are exactly the debates that Americans, and people around the world, should be having."--Anne-Marie Slaughter, co-director of Princeton Project on National Security, Princeton University "A timely, readable and useful book, for policymakers and citizens alike. Leffler and Legro have assembled just the right thinkers, with just the right degree of diversity in their views, to address the major issues of our time and the crucial question of how the U.S. can regain its leadership of the international community."--Strobe Talbott, president of the Brookings Institution "With U.S. foreign policy in shambles and with even more crises on the horizon, the next president has to actually read this book. The only chance of our coming out of the next several years in one piece is to have a good strategy, and these challenging essays tell the president what his/her strategic choices will be."--Leslie H. Gelb, former New York Times columnist "Plenty of lively debate and rich food for thought."--Publishers Weekly "An unusually interesting and useful collection of essays on possible directions for U.S. foreign policy under new administration... [by] some of today's most important and cogent thinkers on U.S. foreign policy."--Foreign Affairs "If you have to choose only one book to read on American foreign policy in 2008, this should be it. A superb group of scholars and practitioners have crystallized the basic strategic choices and policy options facing a new administration. They disagree sharply among themselves, but these are exactly the debates that Americans, and people around the world, should be having."--Anne-Marie Slaughter, co-director of Princeton Project on National Security, Princeton University "A timely, readable and useful book, for policymakers and citizens alike. Leffler and Legro have assembled just the right thinkers, with just the right degree of diversity in their views, to address the major issues of our time and the crucial question of how the U.S. can regain its leadership of the international community."--Strobe Talbott, president of the Brookings Institution "With U.S. foreign policy in shambles and with even more crises on the horizon, the next president has to actually read this book. The only chance of our coming out of the next several years in one piece is to have a good strategy, and these challenging essays tell the president what his/her strategic choices will be."--Leslie H. Gelb, former New York Times columnist "[An] important and well-considered book."--Peace & Change

Melvyn P. Leffler is Edward Stettinius Professor of American History at the University of Virginia, and the author of For the Soul of Mankind. Jeffrey W. Legro is Compton Professor of World Politics and Chair, Department of Politics at the University of Virginia and the author of Rethinking the World.