It is fitting that in an era of uncertainty about the future of the international order, historians are returning to the role the United States has played in establishing the system that is currently under threat. The complicated patchwork typically called “liberal internationalism” had once seemed triumphant and inevitable, especially after the end of the Cold War. But since 1989 we have witnessed the rise of China as a major world power, we have endured the “forever wars” in the Middle East and, more recently, we have witnessed a populist wave leading to the divisive and chaotic phenomena of the Read more