Through a historical and data-driven review of the US's dominant foreign policy trends from 1776 until today, Dying by the Sword argues that since the end of the Cold War and especially post-9/11, the US has become addicted to military intervention. Lacking clear national strategic goals, the US now pursues a security whack-a-mole policy, more reactionary than deliberate. The book dedicates a chapter to each defining era of US foreign policy, applying selected historical narratives, anecdotes of US foreign policy officials, case study examples, and compelling patterns derived from the data in the Military Intervention Project (MIP).

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 stem these increasing trends of kinetic diplomacy, it may do irrevocable damage to its diplomatic corps, dooming itself to costly and often useless wars of choice. It may be fated to the path of reactionary aggression, increasing its military footprint internationally to the detriment of its diplomatic and economic influence. If this trend continues, it could spell disaster for the US's image, credibility, and ultimately, it's international and domestic stability.

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.