Introduction: Presidential Elections and Foreign Policy
Robert Jervis in this special issue of PSQ analyzes the role of foreign policy in the current presidential campaign. He argues that even in this era dominated by domestic concerns, foreign policy issues matter for the national welfare.

Will More Countries Become Democratic?
Samuel P. Huntington analyzes the preconditions for, and the processes of, democratization to evaluate the prospects for the emergence of additional democratic regimes in the world. He does not find those prospects very bright.

Limits of American Power
Joseph S. Nye, Jr. discusses the paradox of the United States having unparalleled military power, yet being unable to impose its will unilaterally on either its allies or its antagonists. He explains clearly why America must adopt a more cooperative engagement with the rest of the world.

Understanding the Bush Doctrine: Preventive Wars and Regime Change
Robert Jervis argues that the Bush doctrine presents a highly ambitious conception of U.S. foreign policy. Based on the premise that this is a period of great threat and great opportunity, the doctrine calls for the assertion and expansion of American power in service of hegemony. He concludes that this assertion and expansion is not likely to succeed.

Globalization as a Security Strategy: Power and Vulnerability in the “China Model”
ANDREW J. NATHAN and Andrew Scobell analyze the gains and losses to Chinese security from the country’s embrace of globalization in the post-Mao period. They argue that while China has grown richer and more influential, it has also been penetrated by global forces that it does not control and become enmeshed in complex relationships of interdependence.

Creating a Disaster: NATO’s Open Door Policy
Robert J. Art argues that an open door membership policy will destroy NATO and that there is a better alternative to create a security structure for Europe.

The Role of Villain: Iran and U.S. Foreign Policy
Paul R. Pillar examines why Iran has become a major focus of attention of U.S. foreign policy and finds that even a nuclear-armed Iran would not pose the major threat that is commonly assumed. The Iran issue simply fills a traditional American psychological and political need to have a foreign adversary.

Pakistani Opposition to American Drone Strikes
C. CHRISTINE FAIR, KARL KALTENTHALER, and William Miller seek to explain why some Pakistanis oppose the American drone program while others support it. They find that the principal grounds of opposition to the drone strikes in Pakistan are not religious in nature. Instead, most Pakistanis oppose the strikes because their only knowledge of them comes from highly negative coverage in the elite media.

The Rationality of Radical Islam
QUINTAN WIKTOROWICZ and KARL KALTENTHALER focus on how spiritual incentives inspire Islamic radicalism. They argue that radical Islamic groups offer strategies for fulfilling divine duties and maximizing the prospect of salvation on judgment day. They conclude that the choice of individuals to move to high-cost and high-risk activism can be understood as a rational decision.

The Soft Underbelly of American Primacy: Tactical Advantages of Terror
Richard Betts argues that the September 11 attacks were a response to American primacy. He then applies offense-defense theory to explain the intense advantages that terrorist groups have in launching offensive strikes and in exploiting the limited defenses that a nation can put up in this era of globalization and asymmetric warfare.