Dying by the Sword explores the US's evolving foreign policies from the Founding era to the present in order to ring the alarm on the US's increasing reliance on "kinetic" global diplomacy. Monica Duffy Toft and Sidita Kushi find that since the end of the Cold War and especially after 9/11, the US has initiated higher rates of military interventions, drastically escalating its usage of force abroad. Lacking clear national strategic goals, the US now pursues a whack-a-mole security policy that is more reactionary than deliberate. The book explores every major era of US foreign policy, combining historical narrative with anecdotes from US foreign policy officials, case studies, and evidence drawn from the Military Intervention Project (MIP), which measures the extent of US reliance on force. Each chapter highlights the ways in which the US used and balanced primary tools of statecraft-war, trade, and diplomacy-to achieve its objectives. It showcases, however, that in recent decades, the US has heavily favored force over the other pillars of statecraft. The book concludes with a warning that if the US does not reduce its reliance on kinetic diplomacy, it may do irrevocable damage to its diplomatic corps and doom itself to costly wars of choice. If this trend continues, it could spell disaster for the US's image, its credibility, and-ultimately-its ability to help maintain international stability.

About the Author
Sidita Kushi, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Bridgewater State University. She has served as a research director at the Center for Strategic Studies, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where she led the Military Intervention Project. Monica Duffy Toft is Professor of International Politics and Director of the Center for Strategic Studies at The Fletcher School of Tufts University. Before joining Fletcher, Professor Monica Duffy Toft taught at Oxford University's Blavatnik School of Government and Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. While at Harvard, she directed the Initiative on Religion in International Affairs and was the assistant director of the John M. Olin Institute for Strategic Studies.

Reviews
American policymakers are addicted to threatening and using military force to get their way with other countries. Toft and Kushi provide an abundance of data that show how the United States has become more militaristic and more ruthless over the course of its history. Dying by the Sword is a must read for anyone interested in understanding how Washington operates on the world stage. * John J. Mearsheimer, R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science, the University of Chicago *
Drawing on a thorough analysis of all America's wars since its foundation (and there have been many) this is a sobering and vigorous critique, warning against American exceptionalism and overdependence on armed force. * Sir Lawrence Freedman is the Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King's College London *
In Dying by the Sword, Monica Toft and Sidita Kushi document and analyze what has become the constant use of US military force abroad. Noting the United States' vague military and political objectives and the range of indifferent successes to catastrophic failures of these military interventions, the authors make a crucial contribution to the study of war, the use of the military tool for political ends, and U.S. foreign policy. * Jacqueline Hazelton, Executive Editor of International Security, and former Associate Professor of Strategy and Policy, the US Naval War College *
Highly recommended. Undergraduates through faculty; professionals; general readers. * Choice *



Book Information
ISBN 9780197581438
Author Monica Duffy Toft
Format Hardback
Page Count 304
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 1g
Dimensions(mm) 150mm * 226mm * 31mm