Summary of Stephen M. Walt's The Hell of Good Intentions

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Sample Book Insights:

#1 After the Soviet Union collapsed, America could have taken a well-earned victory lap and reconsidered its expansive grand strategy. But instead, they expanded their global commitments and continued to shape events around the world.

#2 The United States was not a status quo power. Having won the Cold War, American leaders set out to create a liberal world order through the active use of U. S. power. However, this did not make the United States safer, stronger, or more popular.

#3 When the Cold War ended, the United States was in a position of global primacy unlike any other since the Roman Empire. It had the world’s largest and most advanced economy, and it produced roughly 25 percent of the world’s goods and services.

#4 The strategic situation was not entirely rosy, of course, but the dangers that concerned U. S. leaders after the Cold War were far less dangerous than the threats the United States had faced in the past.