Searching for Monsters to Destroy: Foreign Policy in a Multipolar World

This book examines great power competition among the United States, Russia, and China in the 21st Century. Using a comparative foreign policy framework, Lenze argues the decline of American hegemony, and Russia and Chinese regional assertiveness, created today’s global multipolarity. This book assesses how domestic institutions, leadership traits, and regional dynamics shape grand strategy to varying degrees between the United States, Russia, and China. Drawing on the warning of John Quincy Adams against foreign entanglements, Searching for Monsters to Destroy: Foreign Policy in a Multipolar World evaluates the consequences of American engagement after 9/11, the resulting strain on the Liberal International Order, and the transformation of global order between 2001 and 2024.Analyzing major crises across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa; Paul E. Lenze, Jr. develops a theory of emerging powers that incorporates neoclassical realism, constructivism, and political psychology which informs how hegemons can better understand emerging powers’ foreign policy behavior. How leaders comprehend history, politics, economics, and security conditions influences decision-making regarding whether to balance, blunt, or hedge against regional threats and rivals. Searching for Monsters to Destroy sheds light on the importance of these factors in the development of American, Russian, and Chinese grand strategies in a multipolar world order.