All Measures Short of War

March 27, 2017
This book on foreign affairs is a bracing antidote to simplistic thinking about complex policies. Wright, a Brookings Institute fellow, takes his title from F.D.R.’s pledge, prior to the American entry into WWII, to use “all measures short of war” to defeat fascism. This tightly reasoned analysis argues that the U.S. must find a delicate way to counter rivals such as China, Iran, and Russia while not overreacting to their attempts to influence policy in their own regions. Wright espouses the doctrine of “responsible competition,” which recognizes that nations will compete and proposes that, if the competition is measured and rational, the parties can avoid armed conflict. Russia and China’s recent actions, he acknowledges, are problematic, but a policy of reasonable competition would prevent inadvertent escalation. With economic and political cooperation between nations on the decline and nationalism on the rise, Wright warns that it is more important than ever for the U.S. to adopt a firm foreign policy and prevent global conflict from spreading. The difficulty lies in defining “responsible competition,” which each power can interpret differently. The author assumes countries will act rationally, but history argues the opposite. This is no casual read, but it raises issues that can’t be ignored.