The Foreign Service Journal, November 2018

Michael McFaul is a professor of political science, director and senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. The Free Sea: The American Fight for Freedom of Navigation James Kraska and Raul Pedrozo, Naval Institute Press, 2018, $39.95/hardcover, 416 pages. The Free Sea offers a unique, single- volume analysis of incidents that have challenged the United States’ freedom of navigation at sea ever since the Quasi- War with France in 1798. Retired U.S. Navy officers James Kraska and Raul Pedrozo explain how chal- lenges to U.S. warships and maritime commerce have pushed, and continue to challenge, the United States to vindicate its rights through diplomatic, legal and military means, underscor- ing the need for the strategic resolve to ensure freedom in the global maritime commons. James Kraska is chairman and Howard S. Levie Professor at the U.S. Naval War College Stockton Center for International Law, where Raul Pedrozo is a visiting fellow. Would the World Be Better Without the U.N.? Thomas G. Weiss, Polity Books, 2018, $69.95/hardcover, $24.95/paperback, $15.99/Kindle, 240 pages. Thomas G. Weiss, a leading analyst of the United Nations’ history and politics, does not shy away from criticizing the institu- tion’s many shortcomings. But as the late Kofi Annan, U.N. secretary general from 1997 to 2007, says in his foreword: “I salute this book because it helps us to understand the crucial importance of the United Nations in tackling the considerable challenges facing the world today. TomWeiss has engagingly and honestly asked a very tough question: Would the world be better without the U.N.? His negative reply is an indispensable guide for anyone worried about the future of the planet and of the U.N.” Thomas G. Weiss is Presidential Professor at the City University of New York’s Graduate Center and director emeritus of the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies. Why Terrorists Quit: The Disengagement of Indonesian Jihadists Julie Chernov Hwang, Cornell University Press, 2018, $39.95/ hardcover, $31.16/Kindle, 230 pages. Why do hardline terrorists decide to leave their organizations? This is the burning question to which Julie Chernov Hwang seeks answers in Why Terrorists Quit . Over the course of six years, she conducted more than 100 interviews with current and former leaders and follow- ers of radical Islamist groups in Indonesia, and evaluates the impact of various public initiatives designed to encourage them to disengage from them. Her findings offer hope that Indone- sia’s approach to this pressing challenge can be applied in other societies, as well. Julie Chernov Hwang is an associate professor of political sci- ence and international relations at Goucher College. Her previous book was Peaceful Islamist Mobilization in the MuslimWorld . Stopping the Bomb: The Sources and Effectiveness of U.S. Nonproliferation Policy Nicholas L. Miller, Cornell University Press, 2018, $47.95/hardcover, $41.63/Kindle, 316 pages. In Stopping the Bomb , Nicholas L. Miller explores the role of the United States in combating the spread of nuclear weap- ons. He contends that the Chinese and Indian nuclear tests of the 1960s and 1970s, in particular, forced Washington policymakers to focus more assiduously on promot- ing nonproliferation. Four in-depth case studies of U.S. nonproliferation policy— toward Taiwan, Pakistan, Iran and France—illustrate how the United States can compel countries to reverse ongoing nuclear weapons programs. Miller’s findings highlight the relatively rapid move from a permissive approach toward allies who are acquiring nuclear weapons, to a more universal nonproliferation policy. Nicholas L. Miller is an assistant professor of government at Dartmouth College. THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2018 55