Foreign Policy Begins at Home: The Case for Putting America's House in Order

This book can be seen as a follow-up to earlier works by the prolific Haass (president, Council on Foreign Relations; The Opportunity: America's Moment To Alter History's Course). The major development here is in Haass's shift of focus to domestic economic policy as the foundation of U.S. power. He notes the current national budget debates, which, he says, result from systemic changes in the U.S. economy and in international geoeconomic realities that impact our national security. The book is divided into two sections. The first sets the stage through a discussion of the major aspects of the international realities of the post-Cold War world. Here Haass also examines the post-9/11 world and the challenges to international cooperation after the onset of the global financial crisis of 2008. The second half focuses on a more discriminating and pragmatic foreign policy that is supported by a more disciplined domestic policy. Given his clear discussion and a new look at the opportunity for renewed international leadership, Haass can be labeled as neither a defeatist nor an isolationist.