Fragile Victory

“Cronin wisely reminds us that the fates of democracy at home and the liberal international order abroad have long been intertwined—and that we should not complacently assume either is a default setting in the uncertain days ahead.”—M. E. Sarotte, author of Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate

“The peace and prosperity of the postwar decades seems inevitable today, but this book shows how precarious it really was. The lingering disputes of the period laid the foundations for our current disorder. Fragile Victory offers a compelling account of the sources of current international conflict and potentially pathways forward for the United States and its allies. Everyone concerned about the future of peace and democracy should read this powerful book.”—Jeremi Suri, author of Civil War By Other Means: America’s Long and Unfinished Fight for Democracy

“Cronin shows how the post–Cold War global liberal order was always contingent and uncertain. By the early 2000s it was already under serious threat. And the most momentous challenges to liberalism and democracy came from within the democratic states themselves.”—Odd Arne Westad, author of The Cold War: A World History